The publication of the school building programme for this year will bring little relief to many children, teachers and parents who must continue to endure dilapidated, sub-standard conditions.
In all, about 150 large-scale school building projects will proceed but work on hundreds of others has been frozen because of spending cutbacks. In addition, hundreds more schools remain at the planning stage.
The school projects suspended include several on the INTO's "black list" of sub-standard schools and some that have been waiting a decade and more for decent accommodation. In these cases, the school community must suffer on with leaky roofs and grossly inadequate facilities. It is a shameful situation which requires urgent remedial action. The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, would probably agree with these sentiments. He has secured an extra €20 million for the school building programme but says no more is available.
The INTO's general secretary, Mr John Carr, is correct when he argues much stronger investment is required to end the accommodation scandal in Irish schools. The recent Estimates provided less than €150 million per year for the primary school building programme from an education budget of over €5 billion. More resources are needed given that hundreds of schools date from the 1970s and now require extensive refurbishment or replacement. Mr Dempsey has an opportunity to spell out the extent of the problem to the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy when discussion on a new five year School Modernisation Programme begins shortly. He should not be slow to say that he has inherited a scandalous situation which can no longer be tolerated.
Mr Dempsey does deserve credit for making the building programme more transparent and open. His decision to spell out exactly where every school stands in the list is a refreshing change. As he has pointed out, there was a perception that schools could "jump the queue" by having a judicious word in the ear of a local bishop or politician. The newly published list, and the decision to publish the criteria used by the Department in approving new schools, should help to end some of the shoddy political clientelism that often dominates the process.
In advance of the last election, hundreds of schools were put on the Department's school building list - even though there was virtually no prospect of work beginning even in the medium term. It was a cynical attempt to mislead local school communities.