Kingscourt school included in new announcement

Cavan Monaghan Fianna Fáil TD, Brendan Smith, has said that this week's announcement by Education Minister Ruairí Quinn of 40 new schools, including a new second-level VEC school in Kingscourt, is merely a confirmation of the School Building Programme announced by the previous Fianna Fáil Minister, Mary Coughlan. On Monday, Minister Quinn announced new arrangements for the patronage of 40 new schools to be built over the next six years. Kingscourt is included in the list, which also provides 17 schools in the Dublin area, 12 in the commuter belt counties of Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Louth, six in Cork, three in Galway and one in Wexford. The schools are being built to cater for an increase in the birth rate, which is expected to result in an additional 70,000 students at both primary and secondary school level over the next five to six years. The new €7m school for Kingscourt was first confirmed by Cavan VEC in April 2009 and it's hoped it will accommodate some 500 pupils. In a statement to The Anglo-Celt this week, Deputy Smith said that last January the then minister announced that Kingscourt was one of the areas where a new post primary school would be established. He further pointed out that a decision had been made previously to approve the new school following a detailed review of the current and likely future enrolment and demographics in the Kingscourt area. He stated that in the meantime necessary preparatory work had been undertaken by the Department. Deputy Smith stated that the Minister's recent announcement refers to the new second level schools that had already been announced and he has asked the Minister to ensure that the Kingscourt project is progressed to the next stage as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Fine Gael Deputy for Cavan and Monaghan, Joe O'Reilly TD, has welcomed the latest development. "It will mean a distinct improvement in the quality of education being delivered locally. I am delighted that the needs that exist in Kingscourt have been recognised and will be addressed," he said.Deputy O'Reilly said that the move is clear articulation of the government's commitment to areas such as education in spite of limited resources. "By building these schools the government is responding to increased pressure on the education system as a result of the growing school going population," he said. Patronage Meanwhile, patron bodies are being invited to apply to the department and provide lists of parents who indicate interest in having their children educated in the new schools, including the one planned for Kingscourt.Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said the new process will be more open and transparent and create more choice for parents. "Parental preferences should be at the heart of considerations about the type of school to be recognised," Mr Quinn said. "The new arrangements will provide that patron bodies proposing schools at either primary or secondary level will be asked to provide evidence of demand." A group, known as the New Schools Establishment Group, is to advise the minister on the patronage of new schools, which are expected to cost around €380m to build and some of which will be delivered using public private partnership models.