According to information Teachta Ó Broin received from the Minister for Education, 2,700 additional school places are in the pipeline but schools are still only at design stage. Griffeen Community College, which will cater for 1000 pupils is currently at architectural design stage. While Lucan Community College is currently at design stage for their 1000 pupil extension. St Kevin’s community College is also being expanded, with the school set for a capacity of 1,000 students.
Deputy O’Broin said: “These extra school places are long overdue. We have been hearing from parents for years now as to how difficult it is to find a school place locally for their child. “The promise of 3,000 new spaces are a step in the right direction for our community , which continues to grow every year. “I will continue to push alongside my colleague Deputy Mark Ward to deliver more school places for the area.
“We need to tackle our class sizes, which are not only well above OECD and EU averages, but also the national average. In one instance, from data we obtained earlier this year, there was a shocking 35 kids sharing one classroom. “We should take the message from this pandemic; our classrooms are too packed. “These new developments are a good step forward, but we need to keep going and not accept the state of affairs today as being in anyway satisfactory.”
