Action urged on school buildings

INTO CONFERENCE: The Government must be spurred into action to deal with the deplorable condition of sub-standard schools before the general election, the INTO conference heard yesterday.

"We have, over the coming few weeks, an excellent opportunity to pursue vigorously the scandal of state under-funding of Irish primary education," Mr Declan Kelleher of the INTO central executive committee said.

The campaign for the refurbishment of schools must be given "a new injection of urgency" by the participation of every school in the country, he said.

Joint delegations of parents, teachers and management would be formally approaching Dáil candidates to force them to realise the political significance of "the unacceptable state of our primary schools building programme".

"It is only when all political parties realise that it is unacceptable to have the process of primary education conducted in sub-standard school buildings, in buildings without offices, learning support rooms, resource teaching rooms and general purpose rooms, that we will get a resolution," he said.

Delegates from branches across the country spoke of their outrage at the condition of their own schools. Ms Sally Sheils, of the Dublin city north branch said a dehumidifier had to be left running constantly in her school because there were "mushrooms" growing on the walls.

Her school hoped it would soon be leaving the premises, but she said, "three other schools are queuing up to get into our designated sub-standard school building".

Moving a motion calling for an end to the moratorium on capital expenditure, Mr Des McGinty of the Drogheda branch said the condition of some schools was "demoralising for teachers and an insult to the young people in our care".

Schools should not have to strike to get the improvements they needed he said. "Having to take industrial action to secure basic facilities should not be tolerated any longer.

"That parents have to withdraw children from school is a scandal of the highest order." Despite the Minister's assurances that there is no moratorium on the school building project the motion was passed unanimously.