By raising this matter on the Adjournment, I hope the Minister may put a stay of execution on the decision to transfer a teacher from St. Joseph's co-education national school on East Wall Road. A total of 234 children were enrolled in this school in September 1999. That figure was six short of the number needed to retain the current staff numbers for the coming school year.
I wish to put forward the case on behalf of the school staff, children and parents. The school takes its pupils from the adjoining East Wall area, a traditional working class docklands community. The school is in the area covered by the docklands master plan, which puts special emphasis on the need to educate and train local young people to enable them to benefit from the new commercial developments coming into this rejuvenation area. They emphasise that additional educational and training resources must be made available to local children to achieve this objective. The school is also located in the north inner city drugs task force area, which prioritises additional educational resources as a way out of the drugs crisis. The Cabinet Sub-committee on Social Inclusion and Drugs chaired by the Taoiseach has that objective as a policy priority.
The school is already designated as disadvantaged but unfortunately, unlike its neighbouring national schools, it does not have the Breaking the Cycle scheme or the Early Start programme. It had the same needs as the other local north inner city schools, but regrettably it does not have the equivalent resources. This results in current class sizes varying from 20 children up to 35 children. If the school loses a teacher in September, I am told it will require the amalgamation of two third classes which would result in there being 37 children in that class.
In those circumstances I ask the Minister what chance would the teaching staff have to develop the abilities of the children in this disadvantaged community? At present the two infant classes have 22 children and 28 children, respectively. The neighbouring schools that have the Breaking the Cycle scheme have a maximum of 15 children per class.
St. Joseph's national school, its teachers, children and parents feel strongly that they are being discriminated against. They requested that they be permitted to retain their third year infant programme and the Department replied that this is against departmental policy. The school then requested the introduction of the Breaking the Cycle scheme and the Early Start programme and were told to wait for a review date. The school asked permission to retain its current staff numbers until that review date and the Department said the school must lose a teacher in September.
All the messages received by the school from the Department of Education and Science have been negative. I acknowledge that only yesterday long overdue special needs teaching hours were awarded to the school after I raised the matter in a parliamentary question this week. I hope the Minister will follow that by agreeing to put on hold the transfer of the teacher until a decision is made on the possible inclusion of the school in, what I hope will be, an expanded breaking the cycle scheme.
What is the point in having local drugs task forces drawing up plans for strategies to help young people to counter the drugs threat in these areas, a national drugs strategy team and a Cabinet sub-committee chaired by the Taoiseach examining new ways to direct resources into these areas if the most critical resource available to assist the children is being undermined in this way? I hope the Minister will see common sense and allow the existing staff in the school to continue their work by lifting the threat on them.
Next Tuesday there will be a general meeting of parents in the school to discuss this matter. I invite the Minister to attend to explain the decision to them. I see no good reason the school should lose a teacher. I see all the detrimental effects it will have on the children of this inner city docklands community if their school is undermined in this way.
