This article is from page 36 of the 2007-12-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 36 JPG
A WARNING of local drastic ac- tion was dropped at a meeting of the Clare Vocational Education Com- mittee this week as it listened to a delegation from St Michael’s Com- munity College, Kilmihil, on the frustrating absence of progress on a most urgently needed extension for the school.
Helena Keane, Principal, told the committee that the board of manage- ment had exhausted every avenue and still there was no progress for several years.
“Refurbishment is vital if we’re not to slip backwards in our quality of
education delivery. The college has zero failures in course subjects and examination results are regularly well above national averages,’ she ene
“Our teachers give a huge commit- ment and our pupils deserve better than working in a 20th century build- ing in the 21st century,” she added.
Martin Moloney, a teaching staff representative on the board of man- agement also addressed the meeting.
He first read a letter from staff addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the committee, George O’Callaghan, and the Chairman, Councillor Tommy Brennan, and the other vocational education commit-
tee members.
The staff, the letter stated, had be- come increasingly uneasy at the ap- parent lack of movement from the Department of Education and Sci- ence in the past year on the expan- sion and updating building issue.
“It’s a whole year since a delega- tion met the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, on the matter, and staff have been most frustrated by lack of any momentum meantime,” he said.
‘This is despite continuous efforts of the chief executive officer and the committee’s infrastructure group.”
Martin Moloney added that in his eight years in the college Depart-
ment of Education officials had been there with their measuring tapes but draft reports and plans of proposed buildings appeared to have caused recession rather than progress.
“Our staff,” he noted, “are begin- ning to say what other action is re- quired by them to get movement. We can’t say as yet what way amid a growing sense of frustration.”
George O’Callaghan of the com- mittee said not a week passed when he was not in touch with the Depart- ment of Education and Science on the matter.
It had the project placed on band 2.4, a low priority rating for atten- wee