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School cuts would "devastate"
Inishowen
26.08.09
by Liam Porter, Inishowen Independent
AN INISHOWEN councillor has claimed that cuts in
education proposed in the McCarthy Report would be
devastating for schools in the peninsula. Councillor
Padraig MacLochlainn, who was speaking in advance of
a ‘leave our schools alone’ protest due to take
place in Buncrana’s Market Square at noon on
Saturday, said yesterday that children should not be
punished because adults had messed up.
“Already we have a situation where schools in
Carndonagh, Newtowncunningham and Muff are losing a
teacher. We also have cutbacks in the allocation of
Special Needs Assistants but if the proposals in the
McCarthy Report come into effect it would be
devastating for many schools in Inishowen.”
Councillor MacLochlainn said that Saturday’s protest
in Buncrana would be replicated in Letterkenny and
Donegal Town. |
“The protest is being
organised by Sinn Féin in order to let the public
know where we stand on this issue. We realise that
the people who will really drive this will be
teachers unions and parents groups, but we are
making a stand before the schools year starts to
make people aware that these cuts are not
necessary.”
The local councillor said that if the McCarthy
Report proposals were implemented there would be all
sorts of implications for local schools including
the possible closure of some small rural schools and
bigger class sizes. |
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“We
want to let people know there are alternatives to
this and we should not be allowed to sleepwalk into
a situation where the cuts have to be accepted. We
keep getting told that there are no alternatives,
but that isn’t the case.”
Meanwhile Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh has called on Bus
Éireann to exercise leniency with parents who have
missed the first instalment date to pay school
transport fees for the coming school year.
Speaking after discussions with a number of parents
caught in this situation, Deputy McHugh said that in
these difficult times the Government should be doing
all it can to encourage and support children in
their education.
“Increasing school transport fees by 79% and then
penalising parents who can’t afford this is not the
way forward. In recent weeks I have met with a
number of parents who worry that their children will
be stranded on the roadside when the school term
begins. In the past payments were made three times a
year – one payment each term – but now fees must be
paid biannually, at the end of July and again in
December. This imposes added financial headaches on
parents during difficult times.”
According to Deputy McHugh the government has very
substantially increased the cost of school transport
for the coming school year.
“Junior post-primary fees have increased by 79% from
€132 annually to a crippling €300 per child. Senior
post-primary pupils are also being hit with a 28%
rise, while fees for junior cycle pupils will have
shot up from €99 to a new high of €168 since the
start of 2008.”
He added: “Money has never been tighter and today
parents of school—going families are struggling to
make ends meets. At a time when 20,000 Donegal
families are affected by unemployment, families are
being forced to shell out in the region of €5,000 a
year in extra Government taxes and charges.”
According to Deputy McHugh the Government has
attempted to justify these exorbitant increases
speaking in terms of “phasing out” three—for—two
seating.
But, he concluded: “The responsibility for this
should lie with the Government and not with parents.
Bus Éireann must exercise leniency with those who
have missed the July date.” |
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