Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2017
2. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) has been allocated a new classroom teacher but has not been given approval for additional classroom accommodation to provide for increased numbers. [31914/17]
View answerI ask the Minister the reason a school, Scoil Náisiúnta Naomh Eoin, in Rath Birr in County Offaly, which had been allocated a new classroom teacher, has not been given approval for additional classroom accommodation to provide for the increased numbers in the school. I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister on this issue and would like to ask him why this school has not got that.
The delivery of school projects so that all schools in an area can, between them, cater for all students seeking a school place is the main focus of my Department’s capital budget.
To this end, my Department uses a geographical information system to identify the school planning areas under increased demographic pressure nationwide.
The area in which the school, referred to by the Deputy, is located has not been identified as an area of demographic growth. The Department considers that there are sufficient primary school places in the school planning area to meet pupil demand and in that context, the application for additional accommodation was not approved.
While my Department will keep the enrolment position in the planning area under review, it is important that school size is monitored and that a balance is preserved among all schools in school planning areas to ensure that one school is not expanding at the expense of another school.
In that context, my Department has suggested to the school that it use its available accommodation to meet immediate accommodation requirements.
I thank the Minister for his response but I am disappointed with it.
The board of management of this school submitted an application to the capital appraisal section of the Department of Education and Skills for additional accommodation because it is a growing school. The Minister mentioned increasing numbers. There are certainly increasing numbers in this school and the fact that it had been allocated another teacher proves this. I do not buy in to that excuse.
The school received a letter from the capital appraisal section in the Department on 24 April advising that its application for additional accommodation has been refused due to funding. The Department also advised that the school use the multi-purpose room as a classroom. This multi-purpose room is totally unsuitable. It does not have toilet facilities and the room currently is used as a multi-sensory room for children with special needs. The Minister is making announcements about special needs and how things are improving in that end, but how can this school possibly take this room from those children? It does not make sense. The children with special needs use this room and it is unfair not to meet their needs by giving this room.
I hope the Minister will revisit this issue. If he wishes to visit the school at any time, I am sure it would be delighted. I ask the Minister to look at it. It makes no sense that one section of his Department sanctioned the teaching post and another section then refused to give the classroom for it. Are we going back to hedge schools? What is happening? It does not make sense.
The difficulty for the planning department is that while this school is growing, there are several other schools in the neighbourhood which are declining and which have available spaces. That is where the dilemma occurs.
When the Department is confined to a budget where we build 20,000 additional places every year, we have to apply a rule. These rules apply in all of the 314 planning areas where they look at whether there is a need for places across the catchment. Where one school is popular and others are not so popular, one school is expanding and others are declining, unfortunately, the Department has to be able to manage the increased demand. It cannot continually see, if you like, the popular schools grow and new spaces provided while a school down the street is emptying out. That is the dilemma that the Department faces in decisions like this.
Of course, as I stated in my reply, we will keep the enrolment position in the catchment under review. I can understand the Deputy's concern and I will ask officials to ensure that children are properly catered for. They have reviewed this case. They believe, based on the facilities available, that the school can manage within this. They apply the same rules in every catchment. That is the difficulty that occurs in these cases.
I thank the Minister for his response.
I am deeply concerned. If this room is used, it will put the children with special needs out into an overcrowded classroom. They will not get the same attention. They will not get the same level of teaching. As the Minister will be aware, those children require extra teaching, often in a very quiet environment so that they can learn. This now means that they do not have facilities. They do not have a classroom now because of this decision.
I understand the Minister is keeping it under review but more than a review needs to be done here. If the Minister needs to see it for himself, I encourage him to do so.
The Department has listed the accommodation - I am sure this has been discussed with the school in detail - four mainstream classrooms, one general purpose room, two resource rooms, a staff room, office area, storage etc. The Department has to assess the school's need when it reaches the threshold for an additional teacher as a result of its enrolment. It has to weigh the accommodation with the pupils and weigh the fact that other schools are in decline and that there is no need for additional space in the planning area. That is the difficulty. If there was need for the additional space, of course we would be saying it is a growing school and we should be applying additional space, but when there is no growth in pupil numbers across the catchment, these are the rules it has to apply to manage the capital resources to ensure that in every area there are enough places for all the children who will turn up in September. It is a constant balancing act and it has to apply these catchment rules to be equitable to all children.
I appreciate the concern and I will ask the Department to have a look at it. It is trying to apply in an equitable fashion the rules that it applies in every area. Where there are oversubscribed schools, we run into this problem frequently, where a school will be very popular and is saying it needs more facilities but other schools have available space. That is the dilemma.
