Parents in Swords, Co Dublin, are appealing to Minister for Education Richard Bruton to intervene in a "crisis" over lack of school places.
Over 100 children in River Valley in Swords, aged four and ready to start junior infants, have no school to go to in September. The four local primary schools (up to 4 km away) have waiting lists of up to 145, with other national schools across Swords full.
The parents say they are “caught in the middle of a stand-off between the schools and the Department of Education” where schools will not admit more children and the department says enrolment is a matter for the schools.
The department also argues there are sufficient junior infant places in the greater Swords area. However, these are also full, are up to 6km away, and Swords, with a population of 68,000, has heavy traffic at peak times.
Of the 107 children almost 30 will not qualify for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme as they are too old.
Most of their parents face choosing between paying privately for full-time educational childcare or taking a year off work. About half of these have older siblings in their local school – Holy Family national school – but still cannot get in.
Stephanie Davis’s daughter Lauryn, who will be five on November 11th, missed the age cut-off point.
Application window
Holy Family, which has six junior infant classes of 28 per class, has a one-week application window in January for enrolment the following September. It admits oldest children first, depending on when they turn four. While in previous years children turning four as late as March got a place in September, in recent years this has come back to January and December. This year the school can’t take children who turned four any later than November 4th, 2016.
Almost three of the six classes are filled with children who had tried to get in last year. Other national schools, Holywell Educate Together, St Cronan's and Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe, are all also full, with waiting lists.
Lauryn has already done two years in pre-school. “I paid for her first year and she got the ECCE this year, but she’ll be too old for it next year,” says Ms Davis. “Besides, she’s ready for school. She couldn’t do another year, aged five, with three-year-olds.”
Martina O’Neill’s son Eoghan will be five on December 22nd. “You definitely worry about regression if they miss a year’s education,” she said.
Possible solutions, say parents, would be an increase in class sizes to 30, or a seventh junior infants stream.
Foreseeable problem
School principals contacted by
The Irish Times
agreed there was a “serious issue” with a shortage of junior infant places. Some said it was a “foreseeable problem” the department should have prepared for.
Fingal, of which Swords is the capital, is the fastest growing area in the State. Census 2016 figures show the population increased by 8.1 per cent since 2011.
Mark Cunningham, principal of Holy Family, said the insufficiency of junior infant places was a growing problem.
“We are acutely aware of this. The department is acutely aware of this. While I have huge sympathy for parents on the waiting list the board of management has a huge responsibility for the health and safety of pupils here. The feeling is the school is big enough.”
In the Dáil earlier this month local TDs Clare Daly (Independent) and Louise O'Reilly (Sinn Féin) said there was a "crisis" for children in Swords, and parents were "absolutely desperate".
Mr Bruton said he was “alert to the concerns”, and said the department would “monitor this matter closely”.
