Roscommon/Galway Fianna Fáil TD, Eugene Murphy has said the loss of a third teaching post at Tisrara NS in Four Roads would be devastating for the rural community and has appealed for an extension period of grace for the south county Roscommon school when he recently raised the matter in the Dáil.
“Tisrara NS in the south of the county is in danger of losing a third teacher in September due to new guidelines. They are a DEIS school where one fifth of the pupils are members of the travelling community with a current enrolment of 49 but the threshold of 51 will apply for the retention of the existing third mainstream classroom teacher. Losing a teacher would be detrimental to the fabric of the rural school,” Deputy Murphy commented.
The Deputy noted the threshold requirements ahead of the return to education in September.
“Furthermore, a threshold of 17 pupils applies for the retention of the existing second mainstream classroom teacher in a two teacher school. This means that the school, with a projected enrolment of less than 50 pupils for September will be allocated the same number of mainstream teachers as a school with 17 pupils which simply does not make sense.
“The loss of a third teacher would be devastating for the community and particularly the children attending, what truly is a fantastic school.
“The school currently boasts 49 pupils, with thirteen due to leave sixth class in June and potentially ten pupils enrolling for the September 2019/2020 calendar year. The community is very disappointed to lose a teacher based on such a shortfall,” Deputy Murphy concluded.
