Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 24 Oct 1991

Vol. 411 No. 6

Adjournment Debate. - County Westmeath CBS Primary School.

Mr. McGrath

I am delighted to have the opportunity of raising this serious matter on the appointment of a 15th assistant teacher to St. Mary's primary school, Mullingar. I am somewhat disappointed that my constituency colleague, the Minister for Education, is not present this evening to reply to the debate, but nonetheless I welcome the Minister of State. Deputy Treacy, whom I am sure will give me a favourable response.

The opening paragraph of a letter recently sent by the Department of Education to the chairman of the board of management of this school stated:

It has been brought to the Department's attention that a number of irregular practices are currently evident in your school.

That is strong language to use about a school which has such an impeccable record. The Christian Brothers have provided education at that school for approximately 150 years. Indeed, it is strong language to use about any school.

Departmental rules for teacher appointments indicate that if there are 485 pupils or more enrolled in a school on 30 September 1990 then the board of management can make such an appointment with the automatic approval of the Department. One can imagine the disappointment and frustration of the board of management in this instance when they were informed by the payments section of the Department of Education that ten pupils were not validly registered as pupils of this school. On making inquiries of the Department, the board of management were informed that ten children who had spent their earlier years in other schools could not be enrolled validly in St. Mary's primary school. I believe from the volume of letters which the Minister subsequently received that she is aware of the level of disgust among the parents of these children who now wonder why their children are considered to be illegal aliens in this school.

This, of course, begs several questions. Were these children insured for the year they attended St. Mary's school? Why did the Department of Education pay capitation grants for these children? Why did the Minister's Department say that ten children who repeated sixth class last year were invalidly enrolled when 23 children had repeated sixth class? I should point out that this is the fifth year there has been a repeat sixth class in the school. Were the registrations during those years also invalid? Department of Education inspectors visited this school on many occasions during that period and have spoken very positively about this class. The school had a major inspection in June of this year and got a glowing report.

If parents wish their children to repeat a class in primary school their teachers endorse that application, the principal concurs and there is written evidence of all these factors. Can the Minister for Education overrule the wishes of the parents and teachers? By taking such action against the wishes of the parents and teachers is the Minister not curtailing the constitutional rights and duties of parents to provide the best possible education for their children?

What criteria did the Department use to arrive at this decision? Did she take into account the knowledge of the parents, the teachers, school reports and so on, or was her decision based purely on a financial consideration? I am sure the Minister of State, will quote Circular 10/67 and say it is not normal that children should repeat in primary school. I am not saying it is normal that they should repeat. These are extraordinary circumstances where it is the wish of the parents and the teachers that children should repeat. Surely that must take precedence over everything else.

I wish to inform the Minister of State that the INTO made repeated representations in this case and in relation to the school. They take a very serious view of the fact that these children are declared invalidly enrolled.

What are the thoughts of the Department of Education in relation to repeat sixth class? Recently, some senior departmental inspectors indicated that repeat sixth class is the most important class in primary schools. Indeed, it would be interesting to hear the comments of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the principal of a secondary school, about the standard of pupil he would get into a second level school who repeated sixth class. Finally, I call on the Minister to sanction immediately the appointment of the assistant teacher to CBS, Mullingar.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Now we shall see the extent to which the Minister will respond to that call.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice (Mr. N. Treacy)

The staffing of a national school is determined by the enrolment in the school on 30 September of the previous school year. This has been standard practice for many years and is in accordance with the agreement on staffing made between the Government and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation. The staffing of Scoil Mhuire, CBS, Mullingar for the 1990-91 school year was a principal, 14 assistants and a full-time remedial teacher.

The school authorities applied for sanction to appoint an additional assistant for the 1991-92 school year, based upon the enrolment in the school of 489 pupils on 30 September 1990. A valid enrolment of at least 485 was required on 30 September 1990 in order to qualify for the appointment of a fifteenth assistant as and from 1 September 1991.

The Department requested a report from the district inspector, An tUasal Éamon Ó Breacáin, in order to consider the school's request for an additional appointment. The inspector's report drew attention to a number of pupils, 20 in all, who were repeating sixth standard in the national school. Ten pupils had completed sixth standard in this school, while ten others had completed sixth standard in other schools in the area. All these pupils were repeating at their parents' request, on the basis that some were weak academically, while others were considered immature.

The Department operate a policy of discounting from valid enrolment pupils who are repeating sixth standard, unless those pupils are repeating for exceptional reasons, for example, where a child has missed a large part of the school year through illness or otherwise.

It has been traditional and regular that the Department of Education have repeatedly emphasised to boards of management and principal teachers by means of Circulars 15/89, 8/90, 15/91 and, most recently, 32/91, the need to keep retention of pupils to a minimum, and that retention of pupils in sixth standard, should only take place in exceptional circumstances.

The policy on the promotion of pupils in national schools was originally set out in Circulars 10/67 and 15/89.

The normal procedure should be that a pupil is promoted to a higher standard at the end of each school year. This is to ensure that all children should have the opportunity of having three years post-primary education before reaching the minimum school leaving age. There may be cases, however, where the principal teacher considers that a pupil would benefit educationally by being held back for a second year in a class. In regard to such cases it is felt that, by reference to educational principles, they should be minimal; that no pupil should be held back for longer than one year throughout his or her national school career and that usually the retention of a pupil in a class for a second year should take place only in the third or fourth standard.

In regard to pupils who have completed sixth standard in a national school it would be in accordance with accepted practice that they transfer to a post-primary school. Only in exceptional circumstances will such pupils, if retained in a national school, be considered to be validly enrolled for staffing and other purposes.

Mr. McGrath

These are exceptional circumstances.

Mr. N. Treacy

That is a matter of opinion. In line with this policy the Department refused to sanction the appointment of an additional assistant to Scoil Mhuire in the 1991-92 school year.

Another report was requested from the district inspector, in relation to the enrolment in the school in September of this year. An tUsail Ó Breacháin's report again drew attention to the fact that the school has 15 pupils repeating sixth standard this year, four of whom had completed sixth standard in the school and 11 had transferred into the school from other schools to repeat. This class of 15 repeat pupils is being taught by the principal teacher, Br. Crummy.

The Department wrote to the chairperson of the school, Br. P. Mac-Aoghain, on 14 October regarding irregularities in the school system of pupil promotion. It was pointed out to the chairperson, first, that the curriculum of a primary school is designed as an eight year programme with provision for an infant programme of approximately two years followed by six years in standards one to six; second, the syllabus for each component of the curriculum is drafted to give the greatest possible degree of flexibility in selecting programmes best suited to the needs of individual pupils and schools.

The board of management of Scoil Mhuire CBS has been requested to discontinue the practice of enrolling pupils in a repeat sixth class, and to furnish to the Department of Education, in writing, details of the school's enrolment policy. This is presently awaited in the Department of Education.

I should like to inform the Deputy and the House that the excellent Deputy from his constituency, who happens to be Minister for Education, would be here to take this debate were it not for the fact that she is involved in very detailed Government business to ensure that maximum resources are available for the continued expansion of the great educational programme over which she presides.