*Furglan NS.
ENROLLING UKRAINIAN students will be explored as a mechanism to save Furglan NS, a Clare TD has said.
Furglan NS are to submit a small school appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board early next year after it fell short in its quest to enrol four additional pupils by Tuesday (September 30th).
Clare TD, Cathal Crowe (FF) praised the efforts of principal Patricia Vaughan and all involved in the save our school campaign for Furglan NS. He stated, “Throughout the past week I’ve been in over and back communication with Patricia Vaughan, the principal of Furglan NS, my heart goes out to Patricia and the pupils, it is so evident that they have a great grá for the school and they are extremely concerned that if they haven’t the required enrolment numbers that it could put the future of their school in jeopardy”.
To boost the number of students in Furglan NS, Deputy Crowe said Ukrainian students could be relocated. “I have contacted the school but more over I have been in contact with the Department of Justice as they have responsibility for accommodating Ukrainian war refugees, whilst Ukrainian war refugees have now been domiciled across Co Clare for three years, there are often scenarios which necessitate their movement from one accommodation hub to another, this also happens on an inter-county basis. I am trying to see if there are families elsewhere in the country that will be moving to Clare and if so I think such families should be accommodated in the North Clare area in relative proximity to Furglan NS,” he confirmed.
While Furglan NS’ last-ditch campaign to save the school did not materialise by the September 30th deadline, there is still optimism in North Clare that the primar school will be open in twelve months. “I still have hope that were additional pupils to be secured for the roll book in the next week or two that we could successfully argue the point by way of appeal to the Department of Education”.
Deputy Crowe added, “The Programme for Government commits to a reduction in the pupil to student ratio and I hope we will see some positive steps in this regard in the upcoming Budget but there needs to be special consideration given to Furglan NS, this school has a very rich history that the community is proud of and if the doors were to close I fear they would close forever. I am not fully pessimistic about the future of the school, I hope the efforts Patricia, the local community and I are making will still reap some dividend and hopefully in the weeks ahead we can persuade the Department of Education that the current enrolment numbers are sufficient to keep current staffing levels and to keep the school open”.
Cllr Shane Talty (FF) told The Clare Echo he was “very concerned and frustrated that the future of Furglan NS should hang in the balance like this. It reflects the very real challenges facing rural Ireland”.
He felt a better approach from the Government on emergency accommodation could have aided small schools like Furglan NS. “A more focused state policy over the last number of years, when locating international families in emergency accommodation could have positively supported the likes of Furglan”.
Despite the passing of the deadline, Cllr Talty remained hopeful for Furglan NS’ future. “Even at this late stage, I hope a number of additional students can be found and the school continue. Even if the deadline has passed, I’m sure there would be an appeals mechanism if a couple of students could be found. I know that Furglan has produced brilliant students through the years and the many parental and past students’ testimonies in recent days reflects its great heritage. Hopefully there remains a future for Furglan NS”.
