Deputy Steven Matthews, Green TD for Wicklow, has criticised the decision of the Department of Education to reduce the teaching allocation of Scoil Mhuire Réalt na Mara – Brittas Bay National School following the results of a final appeal. This will leave the school with just 5 teachers for the coming school year, one less than school management and parents believe is required. However, Deputy Matthews has written urgently to the Department of Education and Minister Norma Foley to ask for further engagement given the potentially detrimental impact this decision will have on the school. Discussing the issue, Deputy Matthews said:
“This was first brought to my attention a number of months ago by several parents who were understandably concerned about the loss of a teacher for the coming academic year. If the decision of the appeals bord is allowed to stand, some teachers will have 32/33 students with split classes which completely contradicts Government’s recommended teacher-pupil ratio of 1:24 and will lead less individual support for students.
“Prior to the commencement of the appeals process, I wrote to the Minister for Education, to raise these concerns and spoke directly with a number of Department officials to outline the basis for the appeal. For such a small school community, the loss of a teacher will have a detrimental impact on the operations of the school. If a 40-teacher school loses a teaching post it is a huge challenge, but in circumstances like this with 6 teachers, to lose a teacher provides enormous challenges for school management in how to operate on a daily basis.
“Throughout this appeals process, I have been in frequent contact with the school principal and other school management to offer any support I could, and I will be meeting with them in the coming weeks to engage with them further on the matter. I am hugely disappointed by the short-sighted nature of this decision. Based on projected enrolment, the school will meet the requirements for a 6th teacher for September 2023, so to remove a teacher for the coming school year is unnecessarily disruptive.
“I will do all I can to support the school as I fully disagree with the outcome of the appeals process. I am calling for the Minister to allow for a further avenue of appeal and to reflect upon the impact this decision will have on such a small but tight-knit school community. I am in regular contact with parents from the school and if any other parents wish to get in touch, I would be more than happy to include them in any updates that I receive, concluded Deputy Matthews.
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