‘If ever there was a time to tackle class sizes, surely this is it!’ – Tully

A Cavan TD has expressed concern about the risk of overcrowded classes leading to school closures as the Coronavirus pandemic continues.

Sinn Féin TD Pauline Tully points to figures showing that there are 1,300 classes across the country with 30 or more children.

“Schools are open, and that is of course to be welcomed. But we cannot be complacent. We need to now ensure schools can remain open, which will be as great a challenge as getting them open in the first place,” she said this week.

“The underfunding, understaffing, and overcrowding in the education system has made the reopening of schools all the more difficult. There are countless classes that are way too big, in buildings way too small, and not fit for purpose,” continued Deputy Tully, herself a former secondary school teacher.

Looking at local figures, she claims there were 25 schools in County Cavan last year with classes of 30 kids or more and 31 in neighbouring County Monaghan, a situation she describes as “shocking”.

Sinn Féin wants to work towards attaining an EU average of 20 children per class at an estimated cost of €72M.

“It was extremely disappointing that the government parties voted against our Private Members’ Motion in July which would have committed us to attaining these figures,” said Deputy Tully, calling for an immediate audit of school buildings to identify those struggling most to observe social distancing guidelines.

“If ever there was a time to tackle class sizes, surely this is it,” she said, stating her party would commit a fund of €300M to create additional space for schools most in need.

“Ensuring we keep the virus out of schools, and keep them open, also means supporting parents to do the right thing and keep symptomatic children at home,” continued Deputy Tully.

“Assurance is needed that parents are not out of pocket for doing so. We propose the expansion of force majeure leave to let parents take paid time off to look after children isolating,” she suggested.

The Deputy also said that students and staff with COVID-19 symptoms must be fast tracked testing, so they can return to school speedily.

Sinn Féin is also proposing the recruitment of 500 additional Special Needs Assistants to help children with special educational needs (cost €14.4M).

“Finally, we must increase the bus fleet so that social distancing and safer transport of children on the School Transport Scheme can be ensured and that this does not come at the cost of some losing their seat on a school bus.

“Keeping our schools open is essential, and Sinn Féin wants to be constructive. With the policies contained in our ‘Keeping Schools Open’ document, coupled with adequate funding and supports, we can ensure that schools are in a position where they can remain open now and into the future,” concluded Deputy Tully.