This article is from page 3 of the 2006-06-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
MORE than six and a half thousand concerned parents from Clare have signed a petition calling for an end to overcrowded classrooms in schools throughout the county.
There are more than 3,500 primary pupils in Clare still in classes of between 30 and 34 pupils with a further 2,700 pupils in classes of 29 pupils.
Secretary of the West Clare Branch INTO, Sean McMahon, who is also a member of the union’s Principal’s and Deputy Principal’s Committee, warned that the issue was not just an urban problem, but also an issue for all areas of the county.
“This is totally unacceptable to both parents and teachers and the petition shows the huge level of frustration experienced by parents on the issue,” he said.
“It is unbelievable that such figures could exist at the beginning of the 21st century. The four-year-olds who were in primary schools when the promise was made in the Programme for Government to reduce class size are now finishing second class. Will they have left primary school before any significant action is taken to ensure that they are no longer in large classes?” he asked.
INTO Central Executive Committee member for Clare, Declan Kelleher, said that the intention was to ask “our TDs and Senators to carry a clear message to the Minister for Education and to the Government generally, on primary class size. It is no longer acceptable to have primary school children in crowded classrooms. Children get one chance and one chance only at their education.
“They deserve a fair chance and shouldn’t be in the second highest class sizes in the entire European Union.
“The Government gave clear commitments to reduce primary class sizes in their Programme for Government but have failed to deliver on their promises. The slight adjustment made by the Minister to next year’s staffing figures is of minor benefit to large schools only and totally fails the needs of small schools.”
Dick O’ Connell, Secretary of the Ennis Branch, stated that the newly revised primary curriculum was based on small classes and couldn’t be implemented unless class sizes were radically reduced in a way that gave a clear focus to the child as an individual.