St Nessan's in Limerick has highlighted a wider problem that won't go away, despite promises. Olivia Kelly reports.

Rotting prefabs, unhygienic toilets and cramped, overcrowded classrooms are just some of the problems that drove teachers in a Co Limerick primary school to the picket lines last week.

One-quarter of the 770 pupils at St Nessan's National School in Mungret, Co Limerick, are taught in prefabricated buildings, some of which are as much as 11 years old and are "totally unfit" for use as classrooms, according to school principal Stephen Cahill.

"The main problem is over-crowding in damp prefabs. The standard classroom size is 70 square metres, in the prefabs it's just 40 square metres."

This makes it difficult to implement the revised primary curriculum, he says. "Teachers have difficulty walking to the end of the room, never mind operating overhead projectors or organising group reading."

An average of 31 pupils are crammed into each of the six prefab classrooms in the schools grounds. Some of the buildings have rotting doors and windows, the toilets are unsanitary and there are no "wet" facilities for arts and crafts.

"The toilets are without hot and cold water, there are huge variations in the temperature of the rooms and they're so damp that you could put up a chart one day to find it peeling of the wall the next morning," says Cahill.

The school has repeatedly asked the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, to address situation, Cahill says. Frustrated at receiving "no written response" from the Minister, teachers initiated a one-day strike last Tuesday.

"In February 2001 we were told £1.7 million (€2.15 million) would be allocated for refurbishment. In September, we were at the planning-permission stage and looking to put the work to tender, but in October we were told [by the Department] that it was all put on hold because of the downturn in the economy.

"I have sent letters to the Minister, and received a phone call acknowledging their receipt, but no written notification that we can proceed," says Cahill.

Meanwhile, pupils from St Anne's National School in Shankill, Co Dublin, brought concerns about the condition of their school to junior minister Mary Hanafin at a Dáil na nÓg children's seminar on Firday. Some 20 fifth- and sixth-class pupils presented Hanafin with more than 500 letters and pictures highlighting the need for an immediate refurbishment programme at their school, inculding a car park.

"We've put in all the plans, now we're just waiting for the go ahead," principal Richard Cotter said.