PARENTS are being forced to send their children to
school with long-johns under their uniforms because of the dilapidated
condition of Gaelscoil Bharra in Cabra.
Pupils this week returned after the Christmas break to
the rundown, cold and vermin-infested prefabs of the Irish speaking school,
which was promised a new building 16 years ago.
The outlook is bleak for the school that’s facing
another year of grim conditions and the situation was compounded just before
the Christmas holidays when it was excluded, yet again, from the Department of
Education’s 2012 school building projects.
Past pupil of Gaelscoil Bharra and now substitute
teacher at the school, Niamh Coulahan (19), described the disgraceful
conditions that the teachers and 220 pupils endure on a daily basis.
“I was in the first ever class to be taught in the
school back in 1996 and I can honestly say that the prefabs and the facilities
are exactly the same as they were then,
? she told Northside People.
“Nothing has changed. I remember the cold and lack of
heating and facilities as a pupil and now that I’m a substitute teacher in the
school I’m seeing the situation from a teacher’s perspective.
“Space is so limited, there’s nowhere for artwork to
be displayed and the pupils literally don’t leave the prefab from one end of
the school day to the other, particularly when it’s raining and they can’t play
outside.
“The prefabs are so cold that some parents are sending
their children to school wearing long-johns under their school clothes.
“The kids often joke that they have to keep their
school bags zipped up so that mice don’t jump into them to get out of the cold.
“If it wasn’t so sad it would be funny.
?
She added:
“It’s an absolute disgrace and very
demoralising that the new school building still hasn’t been delivered. But
nonetheless there’s an amazing spirit among all those involved in the school.
?
Outspoken principal Sean O Donaile explained how he
was given false hope back in August of 2011 when he and a number of other
representatives from the school met with officials from the Department of
Education to discuss the new school building design and project.
“It seemed to be all systems go and they presented us
with the plan for a two storey school building and we were told that they’d get
back to us in a few weeks with an update,
? he told Northside People.
“But we haven’t heard anything since. Who knows, the
plan might have accidentally fallen into a bin or something since August, I
wouldn’t be surprised.
“It was of course very disappointing to see yet again
how our school was ignored from the school building projects announced in
December but at this stage I really not surprised.
“The shabbily way we have been treated by the
Department of Education has been nothing short of scandalous.
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When contacted, a spokesperson for the Department of
Education revealed that the new school building project would be
“considered
?
as part of a five-year plan of projects to be announced early this year.
“The Department is currently in the process of
acquiring the site for the proposed building project for Gaelscoil Bharra,
? she
told Northside People.
“An application for planning permission will form part
of the site acquisition process.
“A draft design was discussed with the school
authority in August and the design is currently being revised in light of those
discussions.
“The Department will be publishing a detailed plan on
an annual basis in relation to planned expenditure on individual school major
projects.
“The first of these in relation to projects planned to
go to construction in 2012 was announced by the Minister in December.
“Early this year the Department will publish an
outlined five-year plan on the projects to be constructed in that time. The
proposed building project for Gaelscoil Bharra will be considered in that
context.
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