Name of Student: Eoin Purcell G00321833

Article/Reading: Irish Times (O'Brien, 2017)

1. CONCISE SUMMARY OF READING [1 x A4 page]

The main goal of this article is to give readers a sense of how there is a
need for 12,000 extra school places. It also states while 1,300 extra
teaching posts are due next year and 550 of them will simply keep pace
with demographic growth. The article is based on schools in South Kildare
and its rapidly growing commuter belt like many parts of Dublin. There is a
swelling population around Newbridge meaning second level schools are
at capacity which leaves parents worried about where to send their
children. The population climbed at a rate of 140 per cent between the
censuses of 2011 and 2016. There was an increase of 16 per cent in the
number of 13 to 18 year olds and that figure is expected to rise a further
25 per cent over the next five years. Paula Carroll, a spokesperson for a
campaign seeking an Educate Together school says schools are running
out. She says in nine years there will be 400 primary school children left
without a secondary school to attend.
It states that one of the biggest challenges facing the education system is
ensuring there are enough school places to catch up with the growing
population. The latest budget has granted 745 million euro to capital
projects next year. The bulk of which will go towards creating 12,000
school places and an additional 3,000 replacement places along with
acquiring new sites for school buildings.
The article also mentions there are 1,300 additional teaching posts due by
next year with almost 550 of them solely to keep pace with demographic
growth. It then moves onto the topic of overcrowding.

Overcrowding
The remainder of the money from the budget will be used to ease
overcrowding at primary level along with the restoration of guidance
counselling posts and special needs teachers. This is also without touching
third level education.
The population bulge is set to creak into the third level sector. It says 367
million euro has been allocated for capital projects in third level education
between 2018 and 2021. There also has been 200-million-euro worth of

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projects selected to progress as part of a public-private partnership for
third level education. The department of education says this will allow
new programme of infrastructure renewal, which is focused on
refurbishment to expand capacity, address health and safety issues,
and/or improve quality in areas of key skills needs. The document states
how the government has kept pace with the growth in population at
primary and secondary level but are struggling with third level.

Demographic Pressures
It will be a few years before there is respite from demographic growth
pressures. The primary population is on course to match the highest level
recorded since a baby boom in the 1980s, while second level is set to
reach a record high 416,000 by 2025. Population projections can be
difficult to predict beyond four or five years given migration flows and
fertility rates. The article finishes stating how it will not comfort parents
such as south Kildare whose children are stuck on lengthy waiting lists for
secondary schools.

2. CRITICAL REFLECTION [2 x A4 pages]

I believe the author provides a good argument overall and has useful
information regarding the topic of overcrowding in schools with many
extra school places needed in the upcoming year. It clearly is a big
problem for schools and parents and from reading around the topic it can
be seen that it has been a problem for many years. In an article dating
back to 2007, politician Joan Burton states how many schools in Dublin
and the surrounding areas have a huge population in their classes with a
high number of international children with special language and other
needs. It also says how schools have not been given enough staff and
facilities to cope. (Joan Burton, 2007). In the artcile summarized I feel that
the author gives a clear description to the readers of the situation in Soth
Kildare and the surrounding areas regarding overcrowding in schools and
the lack of places for school children. This is however not just in this area,
it is infact a problem thoroughout Ireland. In some rural parts of Ireland in
primary schools there is a slightly different problem, where students are in
mixed classes and could be in with two and three different classes, this
can become a big problem for teachers as differentiation among the
classes can be very difficult to overcome Many smaller, rural schools also
have large classes, where the challenges of teaching and learning are
even greater because of mixed classes with two, three or sometimes even
four classes in the one classroom. (Monaghan, 2006). Some of the most
significant points that I took from the article is how bad overcrowding is in
parts of Ireland and that the problem is not being resolved any time soon.
This problem is relevant in Cork also, according to Elaine Murphy (Murphy,

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2017), Sinn Fein TD Donnchadh Laoghaire has criticised the minister of
education for the departments failure to deliver long promised permanent
and temporary accommodation for two Cork schools.
Another point from the article that I found to be remarkable was the fact
that some parents are left wondering if their children will have a
secondary school as in some schools around the country there is a lack of
places for students. One case I was reading about stated how parents
were camping outside Clonturk Community College in Whitehall, Dublin on
a Sunday night in the hope of securing a place for their child when the
school opened for enrolment on the following Monday morning, (Murray,
2016).
Although, teachers themselves cannot directly fix the problem themselves
I feel that for the benefit of future teaching there must be a permanent
solution to the problem as it needs to be resolved in order to maintain the
high standards of teaching. If schools are overcrowded teachers will
struggle to stay on top of the workload with so many students in front of
them. The increase in students enrolling with lack of resources is a worry,
with expenditure increased as a result. Second level enrolments are
projected to increase by over 65,000 (19%) between 2016 and 2025.
During the same period, primary level is expected to contract by 8.5% (-
47,000) and tertiary is expected to expand by 8% (14,000). Increasing
pupil numbers means that expenditure on pay will continue to increase
until at least 2022, which is the projected combined peak year for pupil
numbers. (Farrell, 2017). Another issue regarding the shortage of
teachers is, schools are doing what they can but it can mean students are
being taught certain subjects by a teacher without a qualification in that
subject. Pat O Mahony of the Education and Training Boards Ireland says
Schools are doing the best they can, but for student, it can mean being
left without a teacher with a qualification in the subject areas in the run-up
to the State exams. This is happening right across the system (Brien,
2017). From the parents point of view, I believe that they want to get this
problem solved because they do not want to send their children to a
school to be taught by a teacher who is not fully qualified in a certain
area.

I believe that the need of extra school places and the shortage of teachers
is relevant in current issues with education in Ireland today.

3. LIST OF REFERENCES

Brien, C. O. (2017, March 3). Quality of teaching at risk due to teacher shortages.
Retrieved from The Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/quality-
of-teaching-at-risk-due-to-teacher-shortages-1.2995934
Farrell, C. (2017, January 17). Education Pupil Enrolment Projections. Retrieved from
PublicPolicy.ie: http://www.publicpolicy.ie/education-pupil-enrolment-projections/

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Joan Burton. (2007, March 22). Schools Struggle to Cope with Overcrowding. Retrieved from
Joan Burton: http://www.joanburton.ie/schools-struggle-to-cope-with-overcrowding/
Monaghan, V. (2006, September 19). Counting the rising cost of our overcrowded
classrooms. Retrieved from The Irish Times:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/counting-the-rising-cost-of-our-
overcrowded-classrooms-1.1004609
Murphy, E. (2017, May 24). EDUCATION: Some Cork Secondary Schools are overcrowded .
Retrieved from The Cork.ie: https://www.thecork.ie/2017/05/24/education-some-cork-
secondary-schools-are-overcrowded-warns-sinn-fein-td-who-wants-department-of-
education-to-act/
Murray, C. (2016, October 3). Parents camp outside secondary school to gain place for
children. Retrieved from The Irish Indpendent : https://www.independent.ie/irish-
news/education/parents-camp-outside-secondary-school-to-gain-place-for-children-
35098896.html
O'Brien, C. (2017, October 12). Analysis: 12,000 extra schools places needed in 2018.
Retrieved from The Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/analysis-
12-000-extra-schools-places-needed-in-2018-1.3252792

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