SCHOOL BOARDS have criticised the lack of support given by the Department of Education in the department’s latest series of school inspection reports, published yesterday.
The department’s inspection reports focus on schools’ performance. But, in written responses to these reports, school boards say underfunding is making it difficult to implement the curriculum.
Last night John Carr, general secretary of the INTO, said inspectors should be aware of how badly schools are funded and stop making utopian recommendations that take no account of funding realities.
He said school boards were absolutely correct to highlight the difficulties of overcrowded classrooms and underfunded schools. “Government cannot continue to rely on parents and teachers to make up the shortfall in school finances.”
One school board at Bhantiarna Lourdes, Bunclody, Co Wexford, also highlighted the continued use of unqualified substitutes. The inspector’s report should, it says, have differentiated between the many competent professional teachers in the school and the unqualified substitutes that the board was forced to employ at short notice because of a lack of qualified substitute teachers.
The board at Powerscourt National School Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, requested greater funding for special needs provision. It expressed gratitude for essential parental support in this key area.
