IRELAND'S small rural schools, particularly one teacher and island schools, should be "surfing" the Internet and have computer facilities to access the Worldwide Web, an Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) conference was told at the weekend.
The principal of a small village school in south Co Mayo told the Galway conference for one teacher and island schools that they must have appropriate technology. Mr Art O'Sullivan, of Carnacon National School, said the ability to access information was the way to overcome isolation for pupils and teachers. It also provided motivation and confidence.
In his school, a pupil checks for electronic mail every morning. Messages which have a significant educational role are being relayed to and received from schools all over Ireland, Europe and even Australia.
Each pupil is given a slot at least once a week to send his or her message, and while it might be considered a glorified pen pal system, there was something about receiving a message from Tokyo which prompted even the weakest pupils to respond.
While care had to be taken on what was accessed, there was useful information on the Worldwide Web which, within seconds, gives a pupil access to details about the Taj Mahal, the White House or Ballintubber Abbey.
His school, with pupils from 28 families, had spent £6,000 on computer equipment yet had not received any money from the Department of Education, although it was prepared to provide training.
There was no evidence to believe one teacher primary schools were inferior to other schools, the INTO general secretary, Senator Joe O'Toole, said.
However, he suspected there was a belief in Government Departments that if these schools were ignored they would die.
There was a ready availability of educational gurus willing to make the case for rationalisation. What was most relevant for such schools was that teachers, parents and pupils were being discriminated against through lack of funding. They had special needs and required different, resources.
What was required included regular and specific in service education, extra equipment, particularly information technology, the appointment of classroom assistants, the provision of a substitute teacher and the availability of a remedial teacher service.
Delegates claimed little had changed since the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, addressed a similar gathering three years ago. The INTO was accused of adopting a general acceptance of one teacher schools, when teachers in such cases were finding it difficult to teach all subjects to eight classes. The Minister had to realise that a one teacher school was not an ideal one, said Ms Patricia Rose.
A welcome gesture, nevertheless, was the Government's undertaking that any two teacher school due to reduce to a one teacher facility would retain the teacher, said the INTO president, Mr Liam McCloskey. It was Fianna Fail policy that there should be no one teacher schools. "We will be keeping them to their promise if they come into power".