Save Small Schools

tc_eire

Hi All,

The McCarthy Report proposes the closure of over 600 primary schools (<50 pupils) throughout the Republic of Ireland.

If allowed to happen, consolidation will dramatically increase class sizes diluting the quality of education, and with it the destruction of rural communities. For many communities the school is the last remaining glue that bonds them. They have been part of our heritage for over the last 150 years.

Why should our children's future and the future of our local economies be held to ransom while the culprits of the current economic situation are bailed to the tune of billions!? Let's not sacrifice our schools and communities for the wrong doing of others.

lazygal

Why should there be some pupils with a pupil-teacher ratio of 35:1 and another with 10:1? If the only feature stopping a small village dying is propping up an uneconomic school, then its not worth saving. Small schools are a total waste of resources.

Ayla

Nope, disagree completely with lazygal. If the larger schools were having a hard time getting teachers & pupils to fill quotas, then I'd support consolidating surrounding smaller schools. But that's not the case. There is a surplus of qualified teachers who can't find work, and the classrooms (as we all know) are filled to capacity & beyond.

If consolidation occurs, where would the kids go? Many schools are already operating out of mobiles/trailers/temporary facilities, and their resources are already stretched beyond budgets.

Why should rural communities be forced to commute distances when there's a perfectly suitable structure within their own area? Where would all the community teachers & school administrators find work if their school closes down? And how, possibly, could the receiving school logistically cope with a sudden influx of neighboring pupils? No one wins from consolidation.

Ayla

lazygal wrote: »

..If the only feature stopping a small village dying is propping up an uneconomic school, then its not worth saving...

And what's this mean? Since when does "small village" imply that the area's "dying?" There are loads of small communities doted all throughout Ireland that are vibrant, it's only that they're removed from the higher population areas.

D4RK ONION

tc_eire, I've removed the link in your post, boards.ie is not your personal rally point for campaigns.

I'm leaving the thread open for discussion, because that's what discussion forums are for.

*shadow*

Ireland is a country where a huge number of people live in rural areas. Closing small schools would be detrimental and a waste of money. First off the government has spend millions in the last number of years doing up many rural schools so why close them after spending all this money? Secondly to amalgamate rural schools will mean that more money has to be spent on building bigger classrooms etc to accommodate the new students. Not only all this but then you have the issues of extra transport. Extra school buses will need to be put on and this cost more money especially when rising fule costs are considered.

We don't have the luxury of a public transport system in rural Ireland and if the school bus isn't on the route where you live then you're going to have to drive your children into school over very very long distances. Having to travel miles more to get your children to school will also cause huge issues in the winter time when many rural roads freeze and become difficult to drive on. It could take hours to get a child to school.

It's not like in cities where there's another school ten or 15 mins down the road. It's RURAL Ireland. A Child's right to education is what's important here. Don't punish them for the mess this country has created and don't punish them on the grounds that they were born into a rural area.

Essexboy

Most of the people championing small schools are furthering their own interests but using "the community" as cover.

Take X National School in County Sligo. It has 27 pupils, is not based in any settlement, lies on a national route and is half-way between two villages in the same parish. The pubs, shops and post offices are located in the villages so what is the point in keeping this school open?

Meanwhile, the man shouting loudest about this school is fronting an attempt by speculators to rezone land in a nearby area. "Don't do as I do, do as I say"!!

Ayla

Most of the people championing small schools are furthering their own interests but using "the community" as cover.

Wow, way to take a single incident and make a gross overgeneralisation.

Do you have any evidence of this claim or are you just bitter about this one scenario?