Schools wait for building work despite approval

PRINCIPALS who have won Government approval for badly needed school extensions are still waiting for work to begin — 18 months after being given the nod.

Fine Gael surveyed 130 head teachers on how long they have had to wait for building work to begin after getting Government approval up to 18 months ago.

Of the 79 who replied, just 13 said work had started with the rest saying nothing had begun despite the urgent need for the extensions.

Last night Fine Gael senator Fergal Browne said principals were frustrated at the pace of the Department of Education’s building programme.

“Principals have stated that the building programme is ‘terribly slow’, that ‘every step takes months’ and that any contact with the department results in a brush-off,” he said.

“In some cases when school buildings are finally delivered, the school enrolment has increased by so much that the new buildings are already inadequate to meet demand,” he said.

A further four schools told Fine Gael that design work had started on the extensions, leaving 62 — or four in five schools — without the extra buildings needed for the new term starting today.

Approval for the work was given by the Government within the last 18 months.

Mr Browne said other schools had been waiting longer than 18 months for work to begin, with one project held up since the mid-1980s.

Another principal has been waiting for building work to begin since 1999.

Fine Gael is demanding an overhaul of the school building programme so work starts more quickly and pupils can be housed in better classrooms.

Mr Browne suggested giving schools direct funding to build their own extensions instead of relying on the department to do the job.

Stressing the urgency of the building delays problem, he said the country’s primary schools would see a 60,000 increase in pupils in the next five years.

“Severe classroom overcrowding will continue to be a feature of Irish education due to bad Government planning,” he said.

He also criticised the Government for failing to provide Fine Gael with information on the programme, forcing the party to carry out its own survey to gauge the extent of the problem.

The Department of Education last night denied Fine Gael’s claims that the school building programme was ineffective and sluggish but conceded delays could happen as a result of the planning process or other construction hold-ups.