Cork families ‘in limbo’ over lack of school places
A Cork mother who agreed to speak to The Echo anonymously said her 13-year-old son has still not received an offer of a secondary school place.
More than 40 families in East Cork have yet to receive confirmation of a secondary school place for the new academic year for their child, understands.
Sinn Féin councillor Danielle Twomey said parents and children are "in limbo" and called on the Minister for Education Norma Foley to engage with the local secondary schools to alleviate the situation.
“I am asking the minister to engage with schools, so children know where they are going and are prepared for the transition into secondary school," she said. "This year we have over 40 families still without confirmation of a school place. This is particularly worrying since the schools are now shut down until mid-August, therefore parents and children are in limbo.
"We have been lobbying the department for years and they continue to ignore us,” she added.
A Cork mother who agreed to speak to The Echo anonymously said her 13-year-old son has still not received an offer of a secondary school place. “There has been a complete lack of engagement from anyone in the school sector," she stated. "We have been told we can apply for funding for home schooling, or we can take our chances and stay on the waiting list. We have been told it is looking negative.
"Home schooling is not an option for us. We have been told there are places in Cobh. I have no way of getting him to Cobh. We just need a bit of help.”
The determined mother said she will go down every possible avenue to source a secondary school place for her son.
A second Cork mother speaking anonymously said their family are extremely frustrated about the lack of secondary school places in Midleton.
“My son is on the waiting list with no offer," she explained. "We are extremely frustrated as parents and our son cannot understand why he may not be starting his post primary education with his friends in September. It has been suggested about schooling in Cobh or home schooling which is not an option for us as we run a business in the town and my daughters are in school there as well."
“We are on two waiting lists,” added the Cork mother. “There is currently a lotto done where the first 160 get a place and the rest go on a waiting list. My entire family going back three generations have been educated at [a local school]. We just always presumed he would go there but it is full up.
The worried Cork mum called on the school principals to access what students have accepted places and how many places could be available if some places are rejected. “We are being passed around. It seems like they just want you to go away. There needs to be a ranking system where you put down your first, second and third choice and when you get your first choice you come off all the other waiting lists.
“We need the principals to meet and sort out who has accepted offers and who can they ring to come off the waiting list to allow kids with no offer to get a place. We don’t know what uniform to get or what books to buy. It is not good enough,” she added.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education told The Echo they were ‘aware’ of pressure in the East Cork area. “The Department is aware of pressures in the Midleton Carrigtwohill school planning area and is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues across the school planning area through ongoing discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities.
"Officials from the Department will be addressing the issue with each of the patrons with a view to finding a workable solution to ensure no student is without a place for September 2023.
“This close engagement will allow the Department to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years which may necessitate further action including, where required, the provision of modular accommodation solutions,” the spokesperson said.
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