Parents concerned about the health and safety of 120 children attending a "chronically overcrowded" Co Donegal national school are to stage a walkout today.
From 10 a.m. parents will remove their children from the four-teacher St Columba's National School in Kilmacrennan for a one-day protest.
According to the school's parents' association, the school buildings present a serious threat to children's safety.
Despite promises of a new school, which was originally approved in October 2001, they say work on the new building has proceeded at a "snail-like" pace.
They also argue that pupil numbers are set to increase as there are more than 80 new houses planned for the village. The Kilmacrennan parents association said it was calling on the Department of Education to sanction immediately a new prefabricated building. It also wants a fifth teacher to be appointed to the school.
It has further asked for the immediate release of a timetable for the construction of the new school.
According to correspondence from the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, this was to have occurred last year.
Mr John Carr, general secretary of the INTO, said the case underlined that even when increases in pupil numbers were predicted long in advance, the Department was unable to provide proper facilities.
"The conditions under which teachers are expected to teach and children are expected to learn are simply unacceptable," Mr Carr said yesterday.
"Keeping school communities hanging on indefinitely for extensions, renovations and new schools is causing genuine anger and frustration. The Minister must act now to ensure that promises he himself made, are kept."