A "very significant increase" in grants for primary schools was being signalled by Government sources last night as the INTO escalated its series of one-day teachers' stoppages.
It is believed that the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Martin, has reached agreement with the Minister for Finance on a sizeable increase in the next Budget in the grant per pupil.
There is also believed to be agreement on a new system of 100 per cent State funding for site costs, and 95 per cent funding for primary school building costs.
The INTO's campaign against underfunding and understaffing moved to Co Waterford yesterday. Teachers in five primary schools in the Dungarvan area, which have been trying to get a joint remedial teacher for many years, went on strike for the day.
The schools, with more than 430 pupils between them, are Garranbane, Cul na Smear, Kilbrien, Baile Mhic Airt and Scoil Garbhain. Schools at Ferrybank in Waterford city and Redhills, Co Cavan, will strike today.
Mothers queued up with plates of buns and sandwiches for the protesting teachers and parents.
The INTO general secretary, Senator Joe O'Toole, said at Garranbane that this was "a protest strike to draw attention to the fact that primary school pupils are not getting the service to which they are entitled.
"The INTO will be sticking with this campaign for as long as it takes the Minister to see sense. He should hammer that Cabinet table and screw the money out of Government for primary education in order to end the obscene situation in which the primary sector has the least supported and resourced schools in the whole education structure."
The principal of Garranbane school, Mr Don Shiel, said he had first applied for a remedial teacher in 1991. He wondered would a school or group of schools with 430 pupils in an urban area which had looked for access to a remedial teacher still be without one after nine years.
He said only two extra remedial teachers had been appointed in Co Waterford in the past three years.
Mrs Ann Ryan from Dungar
van, who has three children at Garranbane, said it was "appalling that in a school with more than 140 children enrolled, we can't get what should be a basic educational service".
On RTE Prime Time last night Mr Martin and Mr O'Toole agreed that they could get together within a week to 10 days to discuss the issues at the centre of the dispute. Mr O'Toole said he would not call off the industrial action in the meantime.
The Minister said his priorities were to deal with disadvantaged schools and children with special needs. Mr O'Toole wanted something done about tackling the lack of remedial teachers and large class sizes.
The Fine Gael education spokesman, Mr Richard Bruton, said the Minister was deluded if he believed an increase in the capitation grant would solve the deep-rooted problems in primary education. Foremost among these was how to stop one in five children dropping out early from school, many of them shortly after they leave primary school. "The Minister has not put a single extra teacher into the primary sector since he was appointed. It seems he has no intention of doing so next year either."