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THE MINISTER FOR Education has taken aim at those running schools and parents appearing to accuse them of not doing enough to sort out the problems in some of the country’s schools.
In an interview with the Irish Daily Mail, Ruairí Quinn expressed anger at the board of management and the parents of children who attend the Ballinkillen National School in Carlow which hit the headlines in 2009 when it emerged the school building was infested with rats. Quinn told the paper:
You have to ask the question what the hell is the board of management doing? What the hell is the principal doing, what the hell is the community doing?
He accused the parents of children at the school who live in “wonderful houses, with two or three cars parked outside every door” of being “content” to let their children go to such a school. Quinn also suggested that communities should do maintenance work on schools while they wait for funding.
Yesterday, it was reported that the minister had told his cabinet colleagues they must work faster to push through promised legislation with just six of the 20 bills the government had promised to publish by the summer recess being put forward so far.
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I agree with him
some neck . why do we paid taxs if not for upkept of schools and hospitals, and not to bail out private bank debts.
and 3000 per week quinns wages,the only place you find two and three cars, is outside Ruairi area .
So do I
He is spot on. Our school already does this. It does not take much for all parents to spend a Saturday cleaning the school, painting it.
I agree with him too, we in this country expect everything for nothing and whin when we don’t get.Wake up to the real world.
Really Helen? Is that why nearly half my wages is taken in tax and other charges on a weekly basis? Should I now pay extra for the upkeep of my child’s school? No. Enough of this pass the buck blame game.. Tax payers are baring the brunt of every chronic mistake that our fantastic “LEADERS” have made.. Im so sick of it.
Trevor,I don’t have any children,but you know what I pay taxes too for a lot of things that I am not happy about,but as far as I am concerned there is nothing wrong with helping out with our young. Life will be very tough for them all in the future without a good education.They will have challenges we never dreamed off when we were there ages.I begrudge them nothing.
I agree Trevor
We expect everything for nothing? What the heck are we paying taxes for?
I agree with mr Quinn on the school in question,the school’s my kids attend ask parents to help out every summer,with maintenance,yet few of the pen pushers on school boards would lift a paint brush and help themselves..
I hope this isn’t a general broadside; parents and staff do tremendous work in my kids’ school to try and make up for the lack of funding and interest from the government and Dept Of Education.
And what exactly do we pay our taxes for then? If the government aren’t going to produce public services in return for tax money, then what exactly is the point of paying it?
What next, will we be asking our family to carry out surgery instead of going to hospital?
“carry out surgery instead of going to hospital” haha good one JimBob. It’s probably already the best thing to do at the moment
I believe we all have to take responsibility for ourselves in whatever way we can, I don’t think anyone would mind helping the kids in our parishes.I also believe a lot of money is wasted in many areas in Ireland, but education is the key to getting us all out of this mess.
I’m behind the minister. For the school in question to find itself with a rat infestation smacks to me of bad management laziness and a union style attitude! Parents all over the country contribute to school maintenance and or extra funding for schools where necessary. Lots of talk of tax dollars – remember we paid very little tax for a long time and even now were far from a high tax economy in relative terms. David Cameron speaks of the big society – maybe our government should do more to put a similar message out there. This country in facing unprecedented financial stress at the moment – it wouldn’t be a lot to ask for people to pull up there sleeves for what is in the end their children’s own betterment.
David Cameron is a tool and ‘The Big Society’ initiative is a joke, its nothing more than a word game to distract people from service cuts. Less talk of that kind of nonsense please.
While I agree with those of you who argue that as taxpayers we should expect better standards I imagine that if I were a parent of a pupil or a member of staff at the school I’d want to do something about the problem rather that wait for the department of education to get round to sorting it
I also agree . It time community spirit had a revial in this country.
RQ has a point. Also there is a limit to what taxes can pay for. Communities traditionally do lots of jobs without expecting the local authorities to do everything as there is little chance of that.
So typical of a politician to berate those who do the most. Why have a minister or a Dept of Ed if they won’t do the job that they are paid for? Boards are volunteers, & take bullets for weak govt/civil (!) service.
It’s the principal and board of management who are to blame. All they have to do is call rentokill.
Can’t believe a school would have rats and expect the department to do something about it. Local hardware sells rat poison, money could’ve been taken from petty cash – end of. People these days are always expecting things for nothing. Get real, the money pot is not bottomless!
School’s don’t have petty cash, most schools are vastly under funded and parents are taking up the slack between ‘donations’ and fund-raising. Costs of heating and lighting the schools went up and the cost of the refuse collections and the grant per child per year the schools are run on did not.
I assumed a hint of learned helplessness when I read this at first, but having browsed the school’s website I’m not so sure. It would appear the staff, parents and community have been very active over the years.
Typical of a politician, FF is back: blame everyone else, do nothing. Parents do lots for schools, unpaid, unacknowledged. Why have a minister or a Dept if they take the money and run?
There is only a finite amount of resources that are available for schools these days and there is no doubt that some schools are suffering more than others. I do not agree with Trevor that “his” tax now had to maintain the up keep of his local school. Everyone in the country had to pay tax including those of us who don’t have children and I for one don’t have a problem with that.
Where I do see is a problem is people complaining that “somebody should do something” while sitting around moaning. Over the years my parents have at one time or other sat, chaired or took some role in the running of the local schools even when my sisters and I had left secondary education. We lived in a town with a population of about 1500 max and it was always the same people who volunteered for jobs or went to meetings or helped out. It was also the same people who turned up at events “to be seen to be supporting” or mutter complaints about “how its not run properly”.
People have to take a responsibility for their own community and facilities. If that means going on to a school board and missing Eastenders once a month to try and sort out a rodent problem then so be it. If money is not being spent right then don’t just sit at the back of the class, get up and so something about it. It is ironic that people send their kids to school to teach them independence and free thinking, yet when it comes down to it is the parents who end up with the bad report card saying that they “MUST WORK HARDER!”
You are very right Helen
Gis, do you think I said something that was not balanced or was my comment insulting.cause the people on this web site have removed my posts.Makes one wonder what this site is all about.
@Sharron
Of course they have petty cash, I was a school secretary for a year so speaking from experience! Used to buy sandwiches for staff meetings and other sundry items.
That should have been
@Sharrow!!!!
Why the thumbs down??????
Generally people give thumbs down when they disagree in some way with a comment. Conversley people give thumbs up when giving approval to a comment.
*Conversely
So now, along with paying taxes, paying just ‘a little extra’ for heating, art supplies, school trips to farms and the like. people must pick up a paint brush, become rodent baiters….. heres an Idea, why don’t we keep the kids at home or become teachers altogether?
also on a side note:
‘Ballinkillen National School in Carlow which hit the headlines in 2009 when it emerged the school building was infested with rats.’
What did Ruari have to say in relation to the matter at the time, did he castigate the parents then too or did have a few choice comments for the government of the day?
I for one, would love to know.
Would love to know if the minister even browsed the website of this school. Seems like the Board and Staff have been very active over the years in trying to improve conditions there. Various promises made by the Department of Education to them, re proposed new buildings, have been broken on several occasions. This is a scenario which is very familiar to many a teacher! Why is Ruairí Quinn referring to 2009 headlines? Is he embarking on a little rant of his own?! Sounds like he was also trying to “throw his weight” around at a recent cabinet meeeting!! Bullyboy tactics come to mind!!! :(
I’m sorry, but any Minister criticising parents of children, for not looking after schools is yet another example of how the government does not accept it’s responsibility, for running the department of education. First they turned it over to the catholic church. Look what that got us. Now it’s foisted on parents. Certainly parents have a role to play, but can the people paid by taxes taken from parents do their job. that includes the Minister.
A bit rich from RQ. Give me any job, but a rat catcher/killer? Come on. That is a serious problem and poses significant health risks. This type of criticism will not lift anyone’s spirits, especially if theses people were any way motivated in the first place. It sickens me to think that these conditions still exist despite such a prolonged boom in the economy. What wasted opportunities…
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