ENDOFTHE ROAD FOR SCHOOL?
MINISTER WON’T MEET PARENTS AS HE DOESN’T WANT TO ‘POLITICISE’ THE ISSUE
Parents who withdraw their children from Faugart NS at the beginning of the school year fear that the school will never re-open after speaking to Archbishop Eamon Martin when he attended the Irish pilgrimage to St Brigid’s Shrine on Sunday.
A number of the parents voiced their dissatisfaction with how their concerns have been handled.
‘He told us that the future for the school is very bleak as there are no pupils in it,’ said one mother.
She claimed that Archbishop, who is the school patron, had also revealed that the school’s three teachers are going to be redeployed and put on ‘ the panel’ to fill vacancies which arise in other schools.
‘ The upshot of it is they are going to blame the parents, even though the authorities are not putting the interests of the pupils first,’ she continued. ‘We feel that we have hit the end of the road and that the school will close.’
The parents had gathered at the shrine with their children who held signs saying ‘SOSSave Our School’ and spoke to the Archbishop, imploring him to help resolve the dispute and save the school.
The Minister for Education has also stated that he won’t meet the parents after the on- going crisis at the school, was raised in Dail Eireann by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams last week.
The Louth TD said the survival of the school was in danger after it was left with no pupils following a series of withdrawals.
It was ‘sad and disappointing’ that this was allowed to happen.
‘It’s simply unacceptable that a rural school could close the way that Naomh Bhrighde has,” he said. ‘We have now arrived at a situation where a once thriving school which had over 100 pupils in Faughart now has no pupils left, and has effectively closed its doors,’ he told the Dail, describing how school ‘ has been a hub of activity for the local community for generations.’
He noted that: ‘ The Whole School Evaluation confirmed concerns parents had and as a group they took the decision to escalate their efforts to peaceful protest.
‘As a result of a lack of a resolution, this has culminated in their decision to withdraw their children from the school and seek alternative school places for their children. There’s now no pupils left.’
It was, he continued ‘unacceptable to have the Department sit watching from the side-lines as the issues that have led to this point go unresolved.’
He said that parents believed that ‘ through the intervention of both the Minister for Education and the school patron that the school can again flourish,’ and he called on Minister Bruton to meet with families.
However, Mr Bruton said he did not want to politicise the matter by meeting directly with the families concerned.
He said it was a disturbing situation which came about following the publication of a whole school evaluation report which ‘ found a number of significant problems with the capacity of the school to deliver on its mission statement.’
He noted that a single school manager had been appointed to run the school following the resignation of the board of management, but parents had withdrawn their children from the school.
‘Despite having an enrolment of 55 pupils last year, there are now no pupils.’
He said as recently as that day ( Wednesday) his officials were working on a solution to the difficulties, and held meetings with the schools management.
‘It is our desire, that we can see a resolution that parents have the confidence to bring their children back into the school,’ he said.
He added: ‘ The manager is taking the task very seriously.
‘Hopefully we can find a solution which protects the continuing role of this school which has a very proud tradition dating back many years.
However he rejected suggestions that he should meet with the parents involved.
‘We deploy very professional staff, inspectors. I don’t think this is something that one should seek to politicise”.
‘It is not a political thing, where you go in and bang heads together, the parents will have to go in and be convinced that this can work for them.
‘At the moment parents have voted with their feet. We will continue to offer support and try to find a solution” he said.
Deputy Adams stated that resolution to what is now ‘a crisis should have been found months ago.
‘We can’t have a situation where the Department is aware of the problems like it has been in Faughart, decides not to intervene and now the school has no pupils’.