The battle to retain the second mainstream teacher in Carramore National School in Killasser has been taken to Dail Eireann by Independent MEP Marian Harkin.

Questioning Minister of State at the Department of Education Mr. Brian Lenihan who was representing the Minister, Mary Hannifin, Deputy Harkin made the point that the decision to remove the second mainstream teacher was totally unfair to the pupils and parents in the catchment area for Carramore school.

She said that the decision was short-sighted and had no regard for the fact that new families had moved into the area and that there would be more than the qualifying level of 50 pupils necessary to retain the second mainstream teacher.

If the number of teachers was reduced from three to two it would have huge impact on the quality of education for the children and on the morale of the school and its teachers.  She said that a great deal was spoken of rural regeneration but if a school with an upward  trend in pupil numbers could not be properly staffed, what chance was there for any school in a rural area.

The system had to respond to current and future enrolment figures in a school and not to past figures, Marian Harkin said.  Carrowmore School already suffered from inadequate facilities for play, with a very small yard, while it had also been turned down for funds by the Department of Education to renovate playing fields.  Facilities at the school were very poor, she said, but if it’s pre-fab and it’s third teacher were taken away it would be a gross injustice to the children of the area who deserved considerably better treatment from the Department of Education, Independent MEP Marian Harkin said.

In reply, Minister Brian Lenihan said that the numbers which decided the staffing level were based on those pertaining in the previous September when numbers were 45 while the requirement for three teachers was 50 pupils.  Based on this an appeal to the Appeal’s Board had been turned down and it would not be appropriate for the Minister to intervene in the operations of the independent appeal board, he said.

In regard to retaining the school’s pre-fab, the Minister said that the matter was being considered and that officials would be in touch with the schools Board of Management in due course.

Commenting on the Minister’s reply, Deputy Harkin said that the bureaucracy which appeared to totally govern the decisions of the Department of Education was acting against logic and the interests of children.  “This Government has a rural proofing policy and a policy which seeks to maintain population in rural areas but these do not seem to penetrate to the Department of Education”, Deputy Harkin said.

It was mismanagement of serious proportions for the Department of Education to refuse to acknowledge that a temporary reduction of numbers in a school should not lead to a decision which would have severe and unnecessary repercussions on entire communities, she said.

She pledged to continue to press for the retention of the third teacher post at Carrowmore school and to challenge a department which she described as out of date, and out of step with the overall policies of Government.