BUILDING work at a number of schools has been delayed due to a "lack of coordination and planning" at the Department of Education, says John Mulcahy, president of the ASTI.

"Students are being shortchanged and being forced to attend over-crowded classrooms, often situated at a considerable distance from the main school building," he says. "Many find themselves in prefabs which freeze in winter and stifle in summer."

He lists a number of examples including a school in Kilrush Co Clare, where there has been "an unacceptable five-year delay in having work begun on a new school which will end the practice of students marching through the streets of the town to visit `classrooms' in various split sites".

In a Co Kildare school, he says it has been discovered that advice from the Department of Education about planning permission for new prefabs was "erroneous" and that an application for planning permission will now have to be sought.

Cashel Community School, Co Tipperary, which was officially opened this month, has applied for a major extension. This, says John Mulcahy, highlights a lack of planning and foresight by the department. The school opened three years ago, following the amalgamation of three schools in the town.

He added that "in two out of five second-level schools fire officers or health and safety inspectors have issued recommendations on school buildings or safety arrangements in the past two years".

A spokesman for the Department of Education says that it cannot comment on these claims until its own internal investigation had been concluded. However he points to a report presented by the Minister earlier this month, which looks at the systems within the department that deal with planning and managing the provision of second-level school accommodation. The Minister expects this report will be of valuable assistance to the Commission on School Accommodation Needs, which was established last year to examine all aspects of policy in relation to the provision of school accommodation at first and second level.

The report recommends a more pro-active approach to the rationalisation of school accommodation. Also it says that "a comprehensive current inventory of second level school accommodation would enhance the department's ability to assess the extent of current needs and to plan and evaluate the ongoing building programme."