Educate Together has welcomed news from the Department of Education and Skills that new primary schools will be opened in four additional areas in September 2012, with nine more in 2013.
The Department of Education and Skills has invited patrons to apply for the patronage of four additional primary schools in 2012. These schools will be in Ballinteer, Stepaside and Tallaght, in Co Dublin, and Kildare Town. Three new primary schools are opening this year and two further schools had already been sanctioned to open in 2012 [1]. Now four additional new schools for 2012 have been announced and patrons have been invited to apply.
Speaking about the announcement, Educate Together’s Head of Education and Network Development, Emer Nowlan, said: This is great news for parents in these areas who have been campaigning for Educate Together schools. The forum on Patronage and Pluralism is highlighting the need for different school types to be established in all areas of the country. At least for parents in these developing areas, there is now the possibility that they may be able to choose the type of school they want for their children â for some as early as next September.
Martin O’Flaherty, speaking on behalf of the South Dublin Educate Together Action Group said: The South Dublin Educate Together Start-up group are both excited and encouraged by the recent announcement by the Department of Education and Skills of the opening of two new primary schools in the Ballinteer/Stepaside areas in 2012. Our group was set up to meet the demand from local parents, who believe we have the right to choose the type of education we would like for our children. This recent announcement serves as a major boost for our group. Since our campaign started a year ago our pre-enrolment list has grown to 220 children and is steadily increasing with more and more local parents proactively expressing their wish for an Educate Together school in our area”
Chairperson of the Tallaght Citywest Educate Together Association, Sinéad Harrington, said: We are absolutely delighted that all our hard work campaigning for the last three years has resulted in the identification of Citywest, West Tallaght and Firhouse/ Old Bawn as areas needing primary school places. The fact that three schools will be built in 2012 and 2013 is even better than we could have hoped for. We would expect that the Department of Education and Skills would assign patronage to Educate Together for each new school as this is what the local community has been crying out for.
The Department of Education and Skills will now accept applications from potential patrons for these schools. These applications will address a number of criteria, such as parental demand for each school type. The applications will be considered by the Department and by the New Schools Establishment Group, who will advise the Minister.
- To advance Educate Together’s applications for these new schools, public meetings will be held throughout September 2011.
