Cathal BarryEducation Minister Ruairí Quinn has come under fire.
The Government has been accused of specifically targeting minority faith schools amid widespread savage cuts to educationservices.
Education Minister Ruairí Quinn has come under fire from opposition parties after he confirmed that the number of one teacher schools could jump from eight to as high as 60 from September, based on current enrolment figures.
The impending cuts are a direct result of rolling increases in the pupil teacher ratio introduced by Minister Quinn in 2012, Fianna Fáil’s education spokesperson, Charlie McConalogue has claimed.
Mr McConalogue warned this is “real evidence” of the Government’s targeted campaign against minority faith schools among others.
“The burden of Minister Quinn’s changes to the Pupil Teacher Ratio has fallen on rural schools, minority faith schools and Gaeltacht schools,” he claimed.
“The cuts are based on pupil numbers alone, with no consideration of the geography of an area, a school’s particular ethos or the school’s position on the community. The number of schools affected adds to concerns that this is an underhand campaign to eventually force schools in more rural areas to amalgamate,” he warned.