Parents raging over state of schools

PARENTS of children at a Limerick primary school where 27 pupils had a narrow escape when part of the ceiling of a pre-fab building collapsed have criticised the Government for spending €24 million on the Department of Education headquarters.

"I think it’s an absolute disgrace that the Government can justify spending that amount of money to improve their own work environment while it seems the work environment for teachers and pupils in many dilapidated schools does not to bother them,” said St Nessan’s Primary School Parents’ Association chairperson Denise King said yesterday.

Parents were outraged when part of the ceiling in the classroom collapsed in June. “We were very lucky that a child was not killed,” said a teacher at the time.

Ms King said teachers and pupils were waiting five years for five permanent classrooms the Government promised to provide before the last general election.

“We have been demanding that the minister review the school’s position in the school building programme as parents are not prepared to allow their children to be educated in such dangerous conditions,” she said.

The parents of the 730 pupils at St Nessan’s plan to make the conditions at the school a major issue in next year’s local elections.

The Minister for Education told me the wrong nails were used in the original construction of the panels in the ceiling and the department were now satisfied there was no danger to the staff and children at the school.”

Ms O’Sullivan said the school had requested five new pre-fabs be provided until the funds were available for permanent classrooms to be built.

“I think this was a fair compromise in the situation, but the department turned this proposal down as well,” she said.