Limerick school ‘victimised because of success’

A CO Limerick school hailed by computer mogul Michael Dell as one of the best of its kind in the world is being victimised because of its success, angry parents claimed yesterday.

Coláiste Chiarain in Croom is an all-laptop school where the students do all their work on computer.

Its success has seen student numbers spiral from 86 in 1999 to a current enrolment of around 700.

Over 50% of students are from Limerick city, 12 miles away, due to it’s growing reputation.

But the Department of Education is being accused of bowing to pressure from city schools to stop what they claim is a ‘brain drain’ to Croom from students in the city catchment area. This, claim the Croom parents, is the cause of a hold up in funding for a new €12 million campus.

Six years ago there were only six first year students at Coláiste Chiarain.

Next September, it will enrol 140 first-year pupils.

A site has been bought near the orthopaedic hospital in Croom for a new school campus and full planning permission obtained to replace the overcrowd conditions in the existing school building. which are augmented with clusters of portacabins.

Declan Garvey, who is on the Coláiste Chiarain board of management said: “Our fear is that we are now becoming the victim of schools politics. All we need is the green light from the Department of Education to sign the contract.”

More than 500 parents attended an information evening organised by Coláiste Chiarain.

It is believed that one city school is leading the campaign to have the number of city students capped at a certain level.

Students in Coláiste Chiarain buy their own lap tops from Dell and the school gets special discounts and other assistance from Dell from a partnership arrangement.

All 60 members of teaching staff have purchased their own lap tops.

Michael Dell paid a special visit to the school in September 2004 and hailed its programme of education as one of the finest of its kind in the world.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the Croom school building project will be considered in the context of the school buildings modernisation scheme of 2006-2010.