This article is from page 9 of the 2006-02-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
CLARE’S INTO District Representative, Declan Kelleher, has expressed disappointment at the reluctance of the Department of Education to increase the number of grants for building expenditure in the case of small and medium sized schools.
In January of this year, the Department announced that 54 primary schools could proceed to early architectural planning for major projects, but none of these were in Clare.
Just last week, the Department announced that 12 Clare primary schools would benefit from improvements under the summer works scheme.
These were Coláiste Mhuire, Harmony Row, Ennis; Ennistymon Vocational School, Ennistymon; Shannon Comprehensive School, Shannon and Kilrush Community School, Kilrush
These works include improvements to toilets, roofs, windows and electrical matters.
At a meeting between the INTO and department officials in Tullamore the teacher’s union asked for a further extension to the scheme and sought to highlight the dire conditions of playgrounds in schools throughout the country.
“Children need safe, secure and well designed playing areas and this is still far from the situation which obtains in many primary schools in Clare and elsewhere. There was also a chronic shortage of PE Halls throughout Clare and this is taking from the emphasis which should be placed on PE especially during the winter months,” Mr. Kelleher told The Clare People.