Dáil debates
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Topical Issue Debate
School Enrolments
5:10 pm
Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter for discussion. I ask the Minister for Education and Skills to recognise the special position of primary schools on our offshore islands by extending the qualifying date for minimum enrolment from 30 September 2012 to 30 April 2013 so that some unique factors in island communities can be taken into account fully. I am not sure if the special position of national schools on the islands off our coast has been factored into the staff allocations the Minister's announced in recent months.
As the Minister is aware the population of our islands is in decline and has also varied considerably throughout the years. Those islands have unique challenges. I ask the Minister to consider the impact enrolment assessments have on island life. By allowing a second enrolment count to take place on 30 April - which by coincidence is today - where an island school is in danger of losing a second teacher and becoming a single-teacher school the Minister would ensure that these variable factors are fully taken into account in determining the number of teachers allowed in our island schools. This refers to the recent Department of Education and Skills circular 13/2013 on staffing arrangements in primary schools, specifically section 3.5 on island schools.
I have been made aware of the drastic consequences which could negatively impact our island schools if their numbers were below eight students on 30 September last, as they would lose their second teacher forever. The numbers would have to rise above 20 before a second teacher would be reinstated. This figure would raise the barrier too high and would make maintaining a national school on most of our islands unsustainable. If we cannot continue to keep national school children living and going to school on an island we will make our islands uninhabitable for anyone with children aged younger than 12 years. Nobody here wants to see our island populations decline further. They are a resource and not a millstone and it would be great if they could be treated as such. The children of the islands are the future of the islands. I call for tolerant flexibility in considering teacher numbers in island schools. Not only would the schools close but ultimately the islands would shut down.
These schools do not have the option of a merger as schools on the mainland do. I take the point that options exist for national schools in rural and remote areas where student numbers are falling, and schools have always closed in rural Ireland because of a lack of children. It is different on the islands where the option of a merger or an amalgamation does not exist, and it is quite a serious issue. If a school was reduced to a single teacher and this teacher fell ill I do not need to explain to the Minister of State the consequences this would have in a national school in a remote area would be particularly exacerbated on an island. Getting a substitute teacher to an island is more difficult than getting one to a remote mainland area. I would like to think this would be considered in the execution of these staffing arrangements.
The circular was issued long after the day the enrolment count was taken. I ask for a recount to be taken to ensure a fair figure is arrived at so the special position of our island schools is maintained and they can be given every opportunity to continue to educate our young islanders on the islands. I have a particular example in mind of how this issue will possibly impact an island. It is appropriate to enlarge the debate and broaden it out to offshore islands. There are seven inhabited offshore islands off the coast of my constituency of Cork South-West. There are also islands off the coast of Galway, Donegal and Mayo which will be particularly hard hit by this issue.
5:20 pm
Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Harrington for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the position regarding staffing in primary schools, and in particular in our island primary schools. The Department treats schools fairly and objectively in allocating resources to them. This is done in a transparent manner using published criteria. Teaching resources are allocated to schools on a school-year basis.
The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools is published annually on the Department's website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the national staffing schedule for the relevant school year and the specific pupil enrolments in the school in question on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule sets out in a fair and transparent manner the pupil thresholds for the allocation of mainstream classroom posts for all schools. These arrangements include the provision whereby schools experiencing rapid increases in enrolment can apply for additional permanent mainstream posts on developing grounds, using projected enrolment based on 30 September of the coming school year.
Special provisions are in place for island schools which take account of the circumstances that arise, as the Deputy has outlined, in providing education in an island setting. This means that, unlike the generality of schools, in the event a reduction in the pupil numbers of an island school will result in the loss of the second or third classroom teaching post in the school, the post may be retained subject to certain pupil retention levels. In the case of the second mainstream post the total number of pupils must be at eight or above and the school must be the only primary school remaining on the island. In all other two teacher schools the number of pupils required to retain a second teacher is far higher, at 17. This shows how favourable the staffing arrangements in place are for primary schools which are the only school on an island.
The enrolment date of 30 September is the date used for allocating resources to all schools. I do not see any need to introduce a system of allocating resources based on a later date in the school year for certain schools such as that suggested by the Deputy. This is not practical and would impact negatively on the allocation and redeployment process and timeframes.
Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Scoil Náisiúnta Inis Arcáin was below the designated number of eight for the retention of its second teacher on 30 September last, but this number has now increased to ten. This is why I ask the Minister of State to allow the enrolment figure on 30 April to be taken into account before the school would lose its second teacher. It is unfair to write the rules in a circular issued after the qualifying date. The most up to date figures could be used before the circular has a very drastic and negative impact on life on Sherkin Island.
Typically islanders have been dealt with favourably, and the Minister of State is aware of this, with regard to social protection and payments from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in an effort to progress, promote and incentivise local people contributing to island life. In this regard I appeal to the Minister of State to consider the negative impact this would have. I would not expect the Minister of State to allow a school with four, five for six pupils to benefit because I know the line must be drawn somewhere. Schools which dropped to such numbers would not be sustainable and would be detrimental to the students themselves. In this particular case the school is making an effort to bring in students and it is doing so. If it loses a teacher it will never get that second teacher back. The island has a population of 114 so the idea of coming up with 20 national school students is a bridge too far. It will remain cut off and it will have a very negative effect for the school and the general population of the island as it will suck the life from the island. It is not like the mainland where there are options. I agree with the Minister of State that some options, such as amalgamation, are not available. I thank the Minister of State for his response.
Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, we are at a time of great strain on our public resources. The significant concessions made to island populations in terms of the numbers they need to retain a second teacher are very significant and favourable, as they should be, to try to retain a strong presence and community structure on these islands. The Deputy suggests in this one instance to change the date for determining the teacher allocation for a particular school in a particular location, but the system of teacher allocation does not allow for this process. Allocating teaching resources throughout the entire school system is very complex and time-consuming. The cut-off point of 30 September was chosen with this particular challenge in mind. If the Deputy wishes to raise this issue with me afterwards I will discuss it further and in more detail with him, and work with him in trying to alleviate his concerns to a certain extent. I must point out the criteria applying to the case are quite rigid and this is for a good reason.