School places issue is hot topic at meeting
EDUCATION WAS the focus of a recent public meeting held at the Talbot Hotel.
Organised by local councillor Lisa McDonald, the meeting was intended to focus more broadly on education and the many issues surrounding it. However, the subject of school admissions proved, once again, to be the hot topic and parents shared their concerns and woes about securing places for their kids.
‘It’s quite a traumatic experience for parents and kids, some of whom are the only ones in their class without a school place for next September. It’s a problem that’s making commuters of children at 12 and 13 years of age. Buses of students are leaving Wexford town every morning and passing buses of students coming into town on their way.’
Fianna Fáil TD and spokesperson on education, Thomas Byrne believed that the School Admissions Bill would resolve many of the local issues once enacted, and said that it was one of the Bills that his party had supported the passing of. That, he said, would get rid of the parental rule and bring in catchment areas, among other solutions. The parental rule, he said, was not as commonly used anymore, stating that Dublin was the only other place he’d seen such prevalence of it.
‘It would give a level playing field to all kids looking for school places,’ said Cllr McDonald.
She pointed out that, at present, the shortfall of places per year stands at about 50 and was expected to rise in the coming years until reaching a peak in 2021. The Admissions Bill, she said, would alleviate the problem in Wexford but there would still be a shortage of places. However, the full extent of that shortage would be clearer once the Bill was passed.
Addressing the crowd at the meeting, Cllr McDonald also expressed concerns over Special Needs assessments, saying that Wexford was at the bottom of the ladder on this matter.
She believed that a new secondary school was required, saying: ‘Wexford Co Council has plans to attract hundreds, in fact thousands of jobs. There is planning permission for over a thousand new houses in Wexford. The figures don’t support the line trotted out by a secretive Department of Education.’