Between 50 and 60 schools could be facing closure or amalgamation in the coming years, ASTI claimed yesterday. The closures are in part due to State schools struggling to fill empty spaces, while in other cases school trustees are opting to sell off their land.
At the same time, Department of Education figures presented at the ASTI conference in Sligo forecast increasing demand for school places in large areas along the east coast.
The figures show that some 15,000 pupil places at second level and 20,000 at primary level will be needed in areas affected including Portmarnock, Malahide and Swords in north Dublin, east Meath and south Louth.
Pat King, assistant general secretary of the union, said it represented staff in some 50 to 60 schools facing closure or amalgamation in the coming years.
There were a variety of reasons for this, he said, including the fact that school pupil numbers were dropping, the need for huge capital expenditure to bring the school facilities up to standard, trustees opting to sell off land, and the fall off in religious vocations.
According to a school rationalisation report circulated at the conference, the secondary schools which are due to close or amalgamate include: St Colman's boys and Mount St Michael's girls school in Claremorris, Co Mayo; La Sainte Union secondary and the vocational schools in Banagher, Co Offaly; Mercy and CBS schools in Athy, Co Kildare; St Patrick's, St Jarlath's, Presentation and Mercy schools in Tuam, Co Galway; De La Salle and Vocational schools in Wicklow; CBS, Mercy and vocational schools in Ennistymon, Co Clare; CBS and Presentation schools in Dingle, Co Kerry; CBS, Mercy and Vocational schools, Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary; Belcamp College in north Dublin; Holy Faith, Haddington Road, Dublin; St John of God's, Artane; Presentation Glasthule; and Greendale community school in Dublin; Seamount, Kinvara, Galway.
Mr King said the anticipated increase in demand for school places in the east would require some 18 new schools to be built at second level. "They are new schools on top of what's already there. There's very little closure or amalgamation in these areas, apart maybe from Belcamp school and Greendale school in north Dublin," Mr King told The Irish Times.
"There may be falling numbers for those schools now, but there's going to be huge demand in the future in that area."
Delegates at the conference expressed serious concerns about the situation, in particular highlighting the lack of notice given in the announcement last October by the Sisters of Mercy that Seamount College in Kinvara was to close.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin told reporters at the ASTI conference on Tuesday that she was concerned about the short notice of closures provided to schools in some circumstances and suggested that a mechanism might be found to address this.
Delegates also heard yesterday that second level teachers are subject to bullying by a range of individuals, including their pupils, parents and fellow colleagues.