Parents ready for war?

Parent’s across Ireland have begun protesting at the new Department of Education proposals to close or amalgamate many small primary schools across the country. The proposal is expected to save the Department substantial amounts of money each year.

Some parents however have begun protesting and contacting their public reps. This presents an interesting, new challenge for the new Government. For Cork it could mean closure for up to 47 schools. The smallest of which is Rathduane, Mallow which has just eight pupils and two teachers. Clearly a school with a four pupil to teacher ratio is insane and without doubt the department is correct in pursuing the immediate closure of the school.

Parents are protesting that this proposal will kill off rural Ireland. However I don’t agree. The proposal doesn’t intend to shut all rural schools, simply amalgamate situations where 2 or 3 small schools are located in one area. The cost savings in terms of electricity, labour costs etc will be enormous. Furthermore, teaching standards can only improve where teachers instead of teaching 4 or 5 different classes now teach children who are all at a similar level.

However it sadly is felt that this new, innovative approach will struggle to be successful due to the mass uproar expected in rural communities. In Ireland, some things never change!