[ad_1]
Fermoy Education Oneness (FET) Public School has been forced to hold classes in corridors and staff lounges due to a chronic lack of space.
Due to the extreme pressure on space, even the principal’s office had to be used as teaching space.
Although FET is authorised to run special autism support classes, it is unable to run them due to space constraints. There is no sign that this problem will be resolved soon.
Headteacher Tony Maguire said: “It’s unacceptable – the children physically cannot fit in here. How can you cram children into a classroom that is well below the 80 square metres required by the Department of Education?
“How can you say it is OK to have up to 29 students in a classroom that is only 24 square metres? In this day and age, it is clearly not OK.
“It affects the children’s mental health when they are crammed together. They don’t have space to do any activity breaks. From a teacher’s perspective, it means we can’t get our work done the way we would like.
“We can’t do one-on-one instruction because we can’t squeeze through the chairs that are crammed together.”
The school requested the ability to use additional space in the same building or be allowed to relocate to another location.
FET opened in the Fermoy Youth Centre in 2018. As it grew in size, FET was later awarded the basement level of the former Fermoy Technical School/Gaelscoil de hÍde building.
The first year of FET’s operation, it had just three students. However, in the 2023-24 academic year, its enrollment surged to 87, and this academic year, the school has enrolled 92 students. Several courses have waiting lists. The school has five teachers and two special needs assistants.
The Gaels can use the third floor of the Department of Education controlled building in MacCurtain Street, Fermoy, but FET can only use the basement floor.
The remaining two floors of the building were offered to the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) for its further education and training services.
A proposal to allow FET to expand to two upper rooms was rejected on the grounds that the two upper rooms were used for home economics classes and mobile kitchen facilities were not feasible.
One suggestion was for FET to use a portable shed in a storage space adjacent to a small school playground.
“Space pressures mean that teaching and teaching support work has to take place in staff lounges and even in corridors and foyers,” Ms Maguire said.
“We are lucky to have a great faculty here who don’t mind using the staff room for students.
“But the reality is that students and staff deserve better. This is very difficult for everyone.”
Cork County Council members from the Fermoy Municipal Area met with FET officials to discuss overcrowding.
However, the ministry will not take up available space in school buildings. The ministry said schools understand that enrolment must be done within the available space.
“The school capital plan focuses on providing additional places at primary and secondary level to ensure every student has access to school,” the Department of Education said.
“The department liaised with the Cork Education and Training Board in order to find an appropriate accommodation solution for the establishment of the school.
“To facilitate the establishment of the new school, ETB agreed to locate the Educate Together school at the former technical school in Fermoy, along with some of ETB’s further education and training services.”
It went on to stress that both parties had reached a clear agreement on the matter.
“The department outlined to school patrons the importance of managing enrolments in a sustainable way within the boundaries of existing accommodation.
“We will be informing the school’s management committee of this so that parents can be fully informed and expectations managed.
“Schools have been advised to direct any queries about the withdrawal agreement to their sponsors.
“The department will continue to engage with the school’s patrons to answer questions about school accommodation.”
[ad_2]
Source link
