Future of Cork Life Centre at risk, says director Don O'Leary
Don O'Leary at the Cork Life Centre, Winters Hill, Cork which offers an alternative learning experience to young people who might otherwise fall through the cracks of mainstream education. Picture: Dan Linehan
Two months after Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced €100,000 in additional funding to the Cork Life Centre and the allocation of 12 new teaching posts, the centre’s director is warning its future is at risk. Talks with the Department of Education have broken down over 'redline issue' of staff retention, and director Don O'Leary fears the northside centre may be forced to close.
The Life Centre, which offers an alternative learning experience to young people who might otherwise fall through the cracks of mainstream education, said the department was planning on allocating 12 staff to the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB), and the CETB would then transfer staff to the Life Centre. Mr O’Leary said this would lead to the loss of the centre’s own staff and that to accept the department’s offer could ultimately result in the centre closing. The centre currently has 55 students.
Mr O’Leary told the talks had ended unsatisfactorily on Friday night after prolonged and unresolved disagreement over what he said was the department’s planned allocation of teaching roles to the CETB.
Mr O’Leary said full-time roles should instead be secured for the Life Centre’s current teachers and tutors: “We don’t need extra staff, we need money to pay our own staff.
“We believe that if we accepted the Department’s proposal, we would lose our experienced staff and this could ultimately lead to the closure of the centre.
“This is a red line issue for us and in no way could we accept this element of the department’s proposal.”
Mr O’Leary said the Life Centre’s staff has been pivotal in the development of the centre’s culture, ethos and model of work, and had built up trust with children who had often been failed by conventional education.
“The experience our staff have over 10 to 12 years, beginning as volunteers and moving on to part-time positions where possible and in a small number of cases full-time positions, is irreplaceable.”
Mr O’Leary said he regretted the failure of the talks, and said it had been necessary to go public as the Life Centre now needs to try and raise funding for the coming academic year.
A Government spokesperson said the Department of Education is committed to working with the Life Centre to provide a sustainable future for the centre, noting the commitment to extra funding of €100,000 this year, on top of the centre’s annual departmental funding of €77,500.
“Further to requests from the Centre for additional teaching resources, the department has agreed to the provision of up to 12 additional teaching posts over an agreed transition period to supplement the existing staffing supports.”
The Government spokesperson said the Cork Life Centre had agreed as recently as Friday last to meet again with officials as part of ongoing engagement.
Mr O’Leary reiterated that the fundamental issue for the Life Centre is not a lack of teachers, but rather a lack of funding to pay the teachers it already has, teachers he said who have the trust and respect of students.
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