Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom cúpla ábhar éagsúil a phlé leis an Aire inniu agus tá cúpla ceist agam fosta. Bheinn lán-sásta le freagraí scríofa mura bhfuil go leor ama againn. The first issue concerns the impact of Covid-19 on rural schools. I have been very concerned about this issue for some time and as a former principal of a rural school, I believe the current system is neither working nor fit for purpose in terms of staffing schedules and the bands. I know of many schools throughout the constituency of Laois-Offaly that have lost much-needed and valued teachers simply because they were a couple of pupils short of the number required to retain the teacher. This will become more of a problem with the social distancing measures that will come into our schools. I appeal to the Minister because there is huge concern among teachers and parents and it is unfair to the children themselves. I appeal to the Minister to impose a moratorium in respect of schools losing teachers in the short term. In the long term, if he is still the Minister with responsibility for education, I would appreciate any effort to carry out a review. It is long overdue.

Rural schools have been disadvantaged for too long now and I appeal to the Minister on that. Pupil-teacher ratios in Ireland are higher than the European average, which is another reason we should review the staffing schedules in rural schools.

The next issue I want to raise concerns the accommodation fees of third-level students. I have been contacted by many parents in the constituency and I believe the current situation is completely unfair. Could there be a statutory obligation put on landlords to refund the accommodation fees of these students? It could make the difference between students returning to college or not, particularly if they come from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have seen that the leaving certificate examination fees are being refunded, which is only right. I would like to see the same thing happening in respect of accommodation for our third-level students.

I want to raise an issue concerning Gaelscoil na Laochra, Birr. I received a response last week on that school. It badly needs to move to permanent accommodation because its current accommodation is hindering its progress and development. It cannot reach its full potential or enrol the number of students it would like to because of the inadequate space in the current premises. I would like a timeline to be provided as I got the answer but there is no timeline. My fear is this will be kicked further and further down the road. It is an urgent and pressing issue. Can the Minister provide some sort of timeline to give the school a sense of progress and allow it to plan for the move to a permanent premises, which is long overdue?

On the teacher training colleges, has there been engagement on the students' school placements? These placements play a vital role in assisting schools in their work and in developing a student's future career in teaching. They will be needed now more than ever in a pragmatic sense, given that we will be socially distancing and have children of different ability levels within our schools. They could play a crucial role in our schools in assisting teachers in the autumn. I have engaged with one institute of education on this issue but I would like to hear the Minister's view. It is a very pragmatic approach and would benefit both the student teacher and the school.

See this speech in context