IPPN

Published: 04 March 2009

Source: The Kerryman

By KEVIN HUGHES AND DÓNAL NOLAN

Wednesday March 04 2009

SMALL rural national schools are being hit hardest by Government cutbacks as teacher allocations for next September - based on increased class sizes under the '09 budget - highlighted this week.

Among the most alarming examples is the mid-Kerry area of Cromane/Glenbeigh where three national schools within a ten-mile radius are to lose a teacher each.

Curraheen NS, Scoil Réalt na Mara in Cromane and Douglas NS narrowly missed a pupil quota, meaning that the teacher-pupil ratio will be drastically enlarged as a result.

Curraheen NS in Glenbeigh missed the pupil quota by just one pupil; instead of 16 children in each class there will now be 24, a burden that is exacerbated due to cut backs also seen in special needs provision.

Principal Helen Murphy says that the school will now struggle to fully implement the revised school curriculum. "In a multi-class situation children must be taught Mathematics, Irish and English appropriate to their class, age and ability and there is less time for children who need extra support."

With 50 pupils expected next year the school intends yo appeal.

Meanwhile, in Douglas NS they're also a pupil short and are due to become a two teacher school also as a result. Principal Dolores Johnston says that parents are outraged at the cuts. "They are absolutely appalled, as are we, and we have all been up to Cork and Dublin to make our voices heard. It's the rural schools that are being hit worst. Larger schools in the towns can absorb the effects much better."

A few miles away, Scoil Réalt na Mara, Cromane was just two pupils short of the requirement for a fifth classroom teacher. The school's average class size will rise from the current 23 to 30 next school year and school principal Seán Ó Seachnasaigh says this will have a knock-on an effect on the quality of teaching and learning in the schools . "We will have lost a teacher by September 30 next, just when we need her most as we expect to have at least six pupils in excess by that time," Mr Ó Seachnasaigh stated.

In North Kerry, the staff size at Coolard National School is to be reduced by one from five to four teachers. Principal Maurice O'Mahony says the school will find it extremely difficult to cope with the reduction. "I'm a teaching principal and I'm now going to have 31 pupils in my class next September between fifth and sixth class, which is the same size class I had when I started teaching in the mid 70s. It will make my job considerably more difficult between teaching the increased number of children and administering the needs of the school."

Most galling, according to Mr O'Mahony, was the fact that schools were caught completely unawares by the cutbacks. "Last September we were satisfied we had enough, in 114 pupils enrolled, to retain our staff size but the cutbacks were brought in in October. Had we known about it beforehand we would have been in a position to increase our enrolment by admitting pupils at the minimum school-going age of four from the locale."

"While the impact is across the board, bigger schools would be in a better position to absorb the changes by dividing pupils across many classes. It's certainly the smaller rural schools that will feel it most," he said.

- KEVIN HUGHES AND DÓNAL NOLAN