Fears for future of more than half of county’s small schools

Date Published: 28-Dec-2011

By Dara Bradley and Declan Tierney

More than half of the primary schools in County Galway could face either losing a teacher or being forced into amalgamating with neighbouring schools.

And now worried parents of children attending small primary schools in more remote parts of the county are preparing to march on Dáil Éireann as they begin the fight to keep their local schools open.

Parents throughout Connemara and parts of East Galway are behind this campaign of protest and resistance against Government proposals that could result in their schools being downgraded or closed by ‘stealth’.

Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn’s decision to increase the pupil/teacher ratio has sparked widespread fears in one-teacher, two-teacher, three-teacher and four-teacher schools, which are more prevalent in West Connemara and East Galway.

There are 121 primary schools throughout County Galway that have less than 86 pupils and with just four teachers or less

The effects of losing a teacher could result in schools having to close or amalgamate. Even Department of Education official documents said the new teacher-pupil-ratio is being phased in to encourage small schools to amalgamate.

Former Minister Éamon Ó Cuív said there is a threat to the numbers teaching in these 121 schools; and the department is attempting close some of them by stealth.

“They are bringing in the new ratios to force the hand of schools to amalgamate and then they can say it was the schools decision rather than the Minister’s decision to close. It’s a sneaky way of closing schools and what they are trying to do is close every second small school in the county,” said Galway West Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív.