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No primary school closures for
Donegal - Farren
11.03.14
LABOUR councillor,
Martin Farren, has welcomed recent figures released
by the Department of Education which he says confirm
that no primary school in Donegal is faced with
closure in September 2014.
Cllr Farren said only one school in Donegal is faced
with losing a teacher. This four-teacher school has
85 pupils and so is on the threshold for a reduction
of one teacher. He said schools that can demonstrate
that they are likely to increase their enrolment can
appeal against the loss of a teacher and retain that
teacher. |
“For months now Fianna
Fail has been scaremongering about the closure of
small schools in Donegal but now the facts speak for
themselves," said Cllr Farren.
“For the first time ever a Labour Minister of
Education has made public a list of school
enrolments for the whole country so that parents can
see exactly what the status of their children’s
schools actually are with regards to the number of
teacher posts available to the schools. They can see
the facts on the Department’s website and should not
be stressed out by opposition scaremongering.
"There is no Government policy of forcibly closing
small schools. |
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Cllr Martin Farren. |
Ultimately, it is up to
each school to decide how it can best serve the
children in their community and having accurate
facts will help the decision making."
Moville-based Cllr Farren said 73 schools nationally
were due to lose a teacher in the 2012/13 school
year but the appeals process reduced that number to
43.
"In 2013/14, 49 schools were due to lose a teacher
and that was reduced to 32 on appeal. Given early,
accurate facts school management boards and parent
associations can react to threats to loss of
teaching posts and/or closures.
The Labour Party and the Government recognise that
small schools are an important part of the social
fabric and that they will continue to be," he added. |
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