Small schools remain under threat

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Small schools remain under threat

Tuesday, 02 September 2008 14:31

Eva Walshe settling in during the first day back at school in Kilmurry McMahon. Yvonne Vaughan

AS children from across the county return to school this week in their thousands, some small schools remain under threat of closure in the coming years.
While an increase in population through returning Irish emigrants, new immigrants and the relocation of families through Rural Resettlement Ireland has turned around the fortunes of many one and two teacher schools, not all have benefitted.
Chairman of RRI, Jim Connolly, said that a number of schools are in difficulty, but many more have benefitted.
During the past number of years, communities in danger of losing their school have contacted the Kilbaha based organisation in the hope of encouraging families to the area.
Although in many cases families have successfully been relocated to an area not all choose the local school.
“Parents have a total right to decide where their children go to school. Families can’t be told what to do, therefore there has been disappointments as well as successes,” said Mr Connolly.
“You do your best for the local school but parent choice is number one,” he said.
Small schools provide an identity and focal point for many small communities, particularly in west Clare, as well as providing for the local children’s education.
While some schools continue to struggle to sustain numbers to remain open, many more have been hailed a success in the race to keep children coming through the school gates.
For the past 18 years, families have been relocating from Dublin to Clare and schools once under threat of closure are now seeing an increase in the number of names on the roll book.
For Jim Connolly the greatest success of Rural Resettlement Ireland’s contribution to Clare schools is the second and third generation of resettled families that are now attending them.
“I am really tickled when I see grandchildren of families who moved going to the schools,” he said.
“These children are following in the footsteps of their parents who moved west with their families to start school 18 years ago.
“As far as I am concerned what we tried to do is working,” he said.

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