Educate Together fights State effort to curtail new pupil numbers

Families face being split up from next year if the Department of Education’s directive for Tuam Educate Together primary school to accept no more than 13 pupils is implemented.

Parents have begun a campaign to reverse an order for five new non-denominational schools – including ones in Tuam and Castlebar – to only accept half the normal enrolments.

Already for the next academic year, the Tuam school has a waiting list, with applications in from 35 parents. The school had planned to accept 27 children.

Principal Nuala Bourke said the Department is well aware of the demand for places at the school, which opened in 2015 in a refurbished section of the old St Patrick’s College Catholic boys’ school.

The first year’s intake was twelve pupils, that jumped to 20 in the second year and for 2017/2018 a total of 24 junior infants enrolled.

“The Department says it wants to limit the school to a half-stream school so any growth isn’t at the expense of another school in the area. But we can show there has been an increase in 250 enrolments in urban and rural schools here – so clearly we’re not impacting on numbers,” she told the Connacht Tribune.

“We’ve been told the school is a real draw for prospective employees to the likes of Valeo, who don’t want to send their children to a Catholic school. Tuam is the second fastest growth area in the county behind the city so we are meeting a demand that is there across the board.

“We have children travelling in from the country because we are the only non-denominational school in the Tuam area – the nearest ones are in Claregalway and Kilcolgan.

“If we have to limit our numbers to thirteen, siblings will be split up from next year. I’ve one father who is sixth on the waiting list who keeps coming in asking if his daughter has made it to the top of the list yet. He’s very anxious about this.”

Tuam area primary schools jumped from an enrolment of 1452 in 2011/12 to 1712 in 2016/17.

Ms Bourke points out that other schools in the area have been allowed to grow to their full potential. The reason they were set up was so that children of non-religious parents were not discriminated against.

“This move by the Department is clear discrimination against us as a non-denominational school.”

Parent Cheryl Breeds wants to enrol her son in the Tuam Educate Together this September.

“It is the only equality based, multidenominational option in the area. It is also the only English medium co-ed school in the town. We can’t understand why the Department only want them to enrol 13 children, yet all the other schools in Tuam can take as many pupils as they like. It isn’t fair.”

The school had been told they would be in their current building for a year and would then be moved to a different school building following amalgamations of other schools. That has not happened and they are already in need of expansion.

The school was refurbished in six weeks before pupils moved in three years ago. There is ample room for the school to be extended if a further revamp was funded.

There are four full-time teachers at the Tuam Educate Together operating out of three classrooms. There are also three special needs assistants and a resource and learning support teacher for the 62 pupils.

A statement from the Department of Education said Educate Together had been aware that the five schools would begin as half stream schools with an intake of 13 pupils.

It added: “This arrangement has been reflected in the department’s engagement with the patron of the schools, Educate Together, and was reiterated in correspondence and communications with the schools concerned.

A case has been submitted by Educate Together to the Department of Education to expand the five schools. It said it was currently conducting a capacity review.