The focus of my concern is educational disadvantage and the anomaly which exists in that regard in the town of Athy which is in my constituency of Kildare South.
I acknowledge the superb work that has been done by Government over the past six years, particularly that of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey, who nailed his colours to the mast in respect of his commitment to dealing with disadvantage, and the work done by his predecessors, Deputies Woods and Martin. With the provision of €460 million in the current year to tackle disadvantage through a range of different programmes, the Minister has done more than ever before to provide educational supports for those who most need them.
Strand 2 of the RAPID programme for provincial towns was introduced under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness in early 2001. The case for its inclusion was compelling and Athy was duly designated a RAPID town. The town has experienced higher than average levels of unemployment and lower than average participation rates in second and third level education. The most recent statistics available indicate that upwards of 60% of the unemployed male population is classified as long-term unemployed, with a third of unemployed males and 40% of unemployed females being under the age of 25.
Clearly education is the key to building a better quality of life for the people of Athy and its environs, and to achieving a higher level of sustainable employment in the area. The primary school-going population of Athy is served by three primary schools; the Model School, Scoil Mhicil Naofa, and Scoil Phádraig Naofa, each of which can boast of the services of a totally committed principal and a cohort of teaching staff.
Following the launch of Giving Children an Even Break, a programme geared to tackling educational disadvantage at primary level in 2001, two of these schools, Scoil Mhicil Naofa and Scoil Phádraig Naofa, were included in the urban dimension of the programme. Scoil Mhicil Naofa is an infant and girls school, while Scoil Phádraig Naofa is the local boys national school. Their inclusion in the programme was brought about following a survey by the Education Research Centre, Drumcondra, which involved a survey sheet being completed by each of the local schools. From what I can gather, no visit to the schools took place and the evaluation and recommendations on resources were based on the information submitted in the survey. Additional staff resources were subsequently made available to Scoil Mhicil Naofa – deservedly so – while the assistance given to Scoil Phádraig Naofa took the form of a small grant, which amounts to €3,200 for the current school year.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question in March, I was advised that the staffing details of Scoil Phádraig and Scoil Mhicil were as follows: Scoil Phádraig Naofa has a principal, seven mainstream teachers, one learning support teacher and two resource teachers, one of which is shared. Scoil Mhicil Naofa has a principal, 16 mainstream teachers, four Giving Children an Even Break teachers and learning support teachers, five additional special assistant teachers, one additional special temporary teacher, two resource teachers, one language support teacher and one special teacher for the Traveller community.
The practical effect of this situation is best illustrated by the circumstances of a family with a twin boy and girl, who this year went into second class. The boy transferred from Scoil Mhicil Naofa to Scoil Phádraig Naofa to join a class of 30 boys, while his sister, remaining in Scoil Mhicil Naofa, progressed to second class where she enjoys a pupil-teacher ratio of 20:1. Unless this problem is addressed, this boy and his fellow male students will continue to experience an unfavourable pupil-teacher ratio as they progress through the school.
I do not want to suggest for a minute that Scoil Mhicil Naofa is fully resourced – this is not the case, and I will no doubt have the opportunity in the future to focus on its further needs, which include improved buildings and the provision of a home-school liaison service – but the contrast between the staffing resources in the two local schools is stark. No wonder, therefore, that there is growing anger among the parents of young boys in Athy who feel, with justification, that their sons' educational needs are receiving less priority that those of their daughters. Credit is due to the teaching staff in Scoil Phádraig Naofa, who have continued to work in adverse conditions but they, like the parents, are rapidly running out of patience in the search for a solution.
There is talk in the community of legal action against the Department and approaches have been made to the Equality Authority. That is why I am calling on the Minister for Education and Science, through the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, to intervene as a matter of urgency to guarantee that there is parity of esteem for boys and girls within the primary education system in Athy.
The unfair, unjustifiable and anomalous circumstances that exist must not be allowed to continue, and I invite the Minister to visit Athy to assess them for himself.
