Parents of students attending Coolmine Community School have expressed their disappointment at the lack of government action as the school has been forced to discontinue three subjects.
The secondary school, located in Blanchardstown, has been forced to discontinue metalwork, woodwork, and graphics classes due to staff shortages.
A former teacher at the school is quoted as saying she was forced to leave her position due to being unable to afford €2000 in monthly rent costs.
Reporting for the Dublin Gazette, journalist Rose Barratt quoted a parent at the school saying her son had selected all three subjects and how the “quality of his education in these subjects had been greatly impaired”.
Co-founder of Coolmine Community School Parents’ Action Group (CCSPA) Andrea Fitzpatrick, herself an architect technologist, noted the importance of the three subjects as gateways to careers in architecture and engineering.
Last week members of the CCSPA attended an online meeting with Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman, Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach Jack Chambers, along with Fine Gael Cllr Siobhan Shovlin, and the general secretaries of the TUI and ASTI in relation to the loss of the subjects.
Parents expressed their frustration that both Minister O’Gorman and Minister Chambers had to leave the meeting early “due to other commitments” before “many parents verbalised their experiences and frustrations” as well as the lack of “no new plans” to tackle the issues being brought to the table.
The CCSPA stated that teachers “need to be offered permanent positions if they are to be enticed home from abroad”. A TUI representative said that out of 41 secondary school jobs recently advertised only one was a permanent position.
Teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to secure housing in the Dublin area due to high costs and limited supply.
Last October The Irish Independent reported on the crisis in school staffing saying that a survey had revealed that 93% of 29 principals in the Dublin South-West constituency,
“said the inability to adequately recruit was a “serious issue”.”, with the Dublin urban area reported to be the worst affected.
Coolmine CCSPA called on other secondary schools to speak out about the issues calling it a ‘national crisis’.