Parents take a stand against education cuts
Dundalk parents to protest in Dublin
Dundalk parents will stand together against education cutbacks at a major teachers union rally in Dublin this Saturday.
The parents councils from the five major secondary schools, St Vincent's, Marist, Colaiste Rís, Dun Lughaidh and De La Salle are calling on all parents of national and secondary school children to take part in the protest.
Deirdre Kerr, St Vincent's parents' council described the cuts as 'a kneejerk reaction to the current economic crisis' saying that government 'should be investing in our children's future as they will secure the economic stability of the country in the future.'
She said that parents councils were united in their opposition to the cuts at a meeting last month.
'What emerged is that most parents are unaware of the massive negative impact these cuts will have on our children.'
Among the implications are that school's pupil/ teacher ratio will increase from 18:1 to 19:1, which will inevitably lead to larger class size and most schools in Dundalk will lose 2 teachers.
Schools are also set to lose the Home/School Community Liaison Officer, which the parents council say is vital.
The transition year grant has also been abolished which was € 100 per student, along with the Leaving Certificate Applied grant which allows schools to offer the LCA course to students who might otherwise have left school after the Junior Certificate.
'Schools can no longer offer assistance with school books to eligible students as a grant has been lost there also,' said Deirdre.
The Chemistry/Physics/ Home Economics grants have also been taken away, which allowed schools to buy chemicals required for experiments and ingredients necessary for cooking. In school library services will suffer. The parents' council have sent a petition out to every parent of a child in every school, which they intend to present to local councillors and TDs.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation have organised the national march for this Saturday December 6th in Dublin at 1.45pm at the Dáil.
Parents' councils from the five Dundalk schools are organising a bus to transport parents to and from the event.
The bus will depart from the back of the Dundalk Shopping Centre on Saturday at 9.30am. Contact your school to reserve a seat by today ( Wednesday).
- Olivia Ryan
