Special needs pupils taught in security hut

A SCHOOL whose special needs pupils are being taught in a security hut has demanded urgent accommodation from the Department of Education.

Seán Ó Donaile, principal of Gaelscoil Bharra in Dublin 7, said the appointment of a second resource teacher next September could mean these pupils will have to be taught outdoors because of the shortage of space. The school has been running in the grounds of a GAA club in Cabra since being founded a decade ago and has received no extra accommodation since employing a resource teacher in 2002.

“We had to buy a building site hut for the resource teacher’s classes, but it is also used for storage, library books and wheelie bins,” said Mr Ó Donaile. The department has told the school its application for a resource room for next year has been unsuccessful. Around 15 of the school’s 230 pupils receive up to half an hour of one-to-one resource teaching each day and the lack of appropriate accommodation prompted parents to protest outside the Department of Education in Dublin yesterday.

Classes are taught in 10 prefabs and school authorities hope a site for a new building can be found.

The Department of Education said the building of a new school on a greenfield site is not the only option being considered.