This article is from page 2 of the 2008-10-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
PARENTS and teachers from across the county are planing to march on the Dail tomorrow as Clare’s primary schools face losing up to 50 teachers, and every post primary school likely to lose at least one teacher.
For many of the county’s secondary schools the loss 1s much higher, as primary schools in Ennis report that under the current budget cuts they will loose 12 teachers. The figure was provided by the Ennis Education Forum – a group that represents pri- mary schools in the Ennis parish.
Secondary schools in the county capital are also set to suffer. A pub-
lic meeting in Colaiste Muire, Ennis last Friday heard that the reduction in English language teachers would result in the loss of four teachers at the school.
That meeting also heard from Fi- anna Fail TD, Timmy Dooley. He said the government would attempt to minimize the effect of the cuts, but added, “Neither do I want to give you false hope and say that I can change or redress the budget provisions that are there. We have to work to the best of our ability to minimize the impact. I do not see that the provisions will not be overturned as announced”.
Angered parents from Tulla Pri- mary School, who face losing one
teacher next year despite an increase in pupil numbers, have organised a bus to travel to Dublin to join the pro- test. Buses organised by the INTO will also leave Ennis at 1.30pm to- morrow.
Margaret Cooney, principal of Holy Family senior school encouraged parents to voice their concerns on the streets of the Dail. However Ms Cooney said, “There is no evidence to suggest that they will go back on them but I hope that sanity will prevail. We had the second highest teachers pupil ratio in Europe and now we’re on our way to having the highest. That’s extremely serious”.
INTO President Declan Kelleher
has this morning welcomed the for- mation of the Alliance for Primary Education, made up of teachers, management bodies and the parent’s etree e
Protest marches against the educa- tion cuts have also been organised for every Saturday until Christmas, starting on November 8 in Galway. The second march will be held in Tullamore and is scheduled to end at the Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s office. This will be followed in by marches in Cork, Donegal and Dublin.
“We picked Saturday as we did not want to sacrifice school hours. What- ever has to be done will be done,” said Mr. Kelleher.