School cuts prove State’s ‘anti-rural bias’

Scores of small schools across larges swathes of County Galway have fallen victim to the Government’s an anti-rural bias, according to Fianna Fáil.

Galway West TD, Éamon Ó Cuív, the party’s rural spokesperson, was scathing of the Fine Gael minority Coalition’s pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) record, which has contributed to a reduction in teacher numbers in small schools.

The lot of schools in cities and towns has improved, he said, but the ruling administration was showing “a clear bias against rural Ireland” by implementing “mean” cutbacks to small primary schools. Counties Galway, Mayo, Leitrim and Roscommon are disproportionately affected, he said.

And Deputy Ó Cuív listed a whole pile of small schools in Connemara that are impacted including Ros a Mhíl, Béal a’ Daingin, Tír an Fhia, An Trá Bhán, Camus, Kilkieran, Carna, Rosmuc, Corr na Mona and so on.

Deputy Ó Cuív, a former Gaeltacht Minister, said the Government’s decision not to row-back on the cuts has made life more difficult for teachers in small schools.

The impact of the PTR means that two-teacher schools have been reduced to one; three teacher schools are down to two; and four teacher schools have just three.

“So, for example in a two-teacher school, each teacher will take four classes and one of them will also be a teaching principal. It’s incredibly difficult, depending on the pupil teacher ratio,” said Deputy Ó Cuív.

He said small primary schools “are at the heart of most rural communities”, and make a “huge contribution to their local area and are the gateway to the future for all of the children who pass through their doors.”

Teacher numbers at two, three and four teacher schools have reduced significantly under Fine Gael, he said, a claim that has been borne out by statistics released to him by Education Minister Richard Bruton.

Deputy Ó Cuív said: “When Fianna Fáil left office in 2011, all schools with more than twelve pupils had two classroom teachers. This situation has changed and now schools have to have 18 pupils in order to retain a second teacher. This puts a lot of pressure on teachers in small schools, especially in one and two teacher schools, where they are expected to teach across a range of classes.  In many cases, this is simply not sustainable.

“Since 2012 the number of pupils required for the appointment of a third teacher in a school, has gone from 49 to 54 and the retention number has gone from 49 to 51.  The requirement for a fourth teacher has also risen in that time – from 81 to 84.

“These changes have had a huge impact on rural schools, the majority of which cannot meet the revised numbers to secure additional teachers.  I am urging the Minister for Education to explore the option of reversing these mean changes, which have had a detrimental impact on rural schools, and to ensure that the pupil-teacher ratios in these schools are returned to 2011 levels.”

Minister Bruton said: “Any additional improvement in the pupil teacher ratio would have to be considered as part of the next annual budgetary process, alongside the many other demands from the education sector.”