‘Dear Santa, this year save our school’
Parents, teachers, pupils and politicians assembled at Fybough National School in the Dingle Peninsula to protest against changes to the pupil-teacher ratio.
The changes could result in the school losing one of its three teachers. Last September, the school had 49 pupils, which was enough to retain three teachers. However, in a decision in the budget relating to small schools, the required number for a three-teacher allocation was raised to 51.
Principal Angela Prendergast described the decision as “another stealth attack on the fabric of rural life”. She called for its reversal.
“The school community of Fybough national school are united in their determination to protect the education of their children,” she said.
William Evans, who has two children in the school, said the loss of a teacher would have a serious impact on children’s education.
“This is all about standards. You cannot have a situation where one teacher has four classes in the same room,” he said.
“It would be a throwback to the hedge school days and an intolerable situation would be created with two teachers trying to oversee the school. There are also health and safety and moral issues involved. Marginalised children would be big victims in this.”
The protest took place after Christmas Mass in the school celebrated by Fr Luke Roche, parish priest of Castlemaine. Four Kerry TDs — Fine Gael’s Brendan Griffin, FG, Sinn Féin's Martin Ferris, and Independents Michael Healy-Rae and Tom Fleming — attended, along with a number of county councillors. Several placards were on display, including one by pupils which said: “Dear Santa, this year save our school.”
The school, one of four in Castlemaine parish, was built in 1964 and a €300,000 extension was added in 2009.
Its former pupils include ex-minister for community, equality and Gaeltacht affairs Pat Carey, and All-Ireland winning Kerry footballer Tom Prendergast.
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