Teachers predict an end to school sports

Post-primary schools across the county have warned of school closures, major cuts in teacher numbers, the decimation of extracurricular activities and even difficulty in facilitating oral exams and field trips that make up an essential part of the state exam system. Angry principals have predicted an end to school football matches and debates and warn that schools could close or children could be sent home when teachers are sick, if the proposed budget education cuts are implemented. Furious parents, teachers and school managers from across the country gathered in Navan last week to form a local branch of the Post-Primary Education Forum and have urged parents and staff to travel in force to the PPEF"s protest at Parnell Square, Dublin, this coming Saturday at 12 noon. The principal of Ashbourne Community School, Áine O"Sullivan, wrote to parents this week to inform them that sport and extracurricular activities for students will end in January as paid substitution is not allowed for teachers taking teams to matches or students on educational trips. She warned that participation in the Young Scientists" Exhibition, Young Entrepreneurs and Young Social Innovators may also be affected and some field trips may not go ahead, even if they are necessary for State exams. She said they will be losing a number of teachers in September, leading to a reduction in the number of pupils who can be catered for with learning support in English and maths. 'Overall, it will increase class sizes in many subject areas and may impact on the provision of some subjects on the curriculum,' she said. She warned that children may be sent home from school if a teacher is ill as they will be unsupervised. Parents were told the abolition of the capitation grant for students enrolled in transition year and in Leaving Cert Applied will increase the cost of both of these programmes for families of these students and the abolition of the physics and chemistry grant will mean that resources in these areas will be fewer and more difficult to replace when obsolete. Colm O"Rourke, principal of St Patrick"s Classical School in Navan, agreed that the cuts would make life extremely difficult for schools, pointing out that schools will not be allowed substitute cover for teachers bringing students on field trips or to sporting events. He warned this would have a devastating effect on extracurricular activities and schools will either be unable to attend football matches or some children will have to stay at home while others travel to these events. 'We cannot allow students to be unsupervised in school. It is a health and safety issue,' he said. He was highly critical of the removal of the book grant for poorer children and said it was a serious attack on the less well-off. The principal of Navan"s Beaufort College, John Condon, warned an outbreak of 'flu could close the school. He believed his school would lose 1.5 teachers next September and the changes to English as an additional language would have a serious impact on Beaufort. 'We are very concerned,' he said. Dermot Carney, principal of Kells Community School, described the situaiton as 'a disaster'. He believed they may have to close the school or send children home if teachers are ill. 'We cannot employ a substitute until we have a doctor"s certificate. We will not be able to get a certificate on the first day of illness, as it is usually sometime during that day that the person who is ill will see a doctor,' he said. He also warned that all sports matches will end in January, as schools will be unable to provide substitution for teachers travelling to matches with students. 'We have not been given any guidelines on how to deal with this and we don"t how we will be able to cope with oral exams, or projects for State exams,' he said. Cllr Joe Bonner said this week he was furious at the cuts and urged parents and teachers to attend next Saturday"s protest march in Dublin. 'I am really horrified, shocked and angry at the way our children are being treated. It is appalling that our education system will be damaged in this way and our children will be the victims,' he said.