Co. Galway farmer fronts campaign to retain second teacher
A Co. Galway farmer is working to attract new pupils to his children's national school so that a second teacher can be retained.
Paddy Curran, a dry cattle and sheep farmer, lives across from the school, Scoil Naomh Pádraig, An Chloch Bhreac, and is also part of the parents' committee.
The school is set to lose three of its seven pupils next September, which would result in the loss of its second teacher.
The parents' committee is offering a €2,000 bursary to be paid in two instalments over two school years to the families of seven new pupils who enrol in the school from outside the area, in an attempt to prevent that loss.
Five families have already committed to having their children educated through Irish at the school, which is located between loughs Corrib and Masc in north Connemara, approximately six miles from the village of Cong. Two more pupils are required.
The school now provides after-school services and plans to introduce a breakfast club from September.
Curran – a past pupil of the school – said that not that many children were born in the area in the last four to five years.
He said: 'Once you go below 11 pupils, the second teacher is taken.'
The irony, he remarked, is that there are about 14 babies and toddlers in the locality who will start in the school in the next few years.
'One of the best things about the school is its low numbers. Historically the school has had between 30 and 40 pupils.'
Overall, the reaction to the bursary, which came about through fundraising by the parents' committee and money from the school, was very encouraging, Curran said.
'The response has been very good. We will probably run the bursary for a few years,' he added.
The Co. Galway farmer said that there is plenty of work in the area, with a lot of people living locally commuting to work in Galway, Castlebar, and Westport.
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