EDUCATION
There are many aspects to the regeneration of Ballymun.
The built environment must be improved by the provision of houses at a reasonable density for a suburb.
The visible environment must be improved with properly designed green spaces.
The infrastructural environment - roads, sewerage, water supply and drainage must be properly rehabilitated
AND
this must take account of the number of people living in Ballymun..
Shops, Services and amenities must be provided at a level commensurate with a town of 20,000.
And the socio-economic environment must be improved.
There are 2 issues here
Issue 1 - The Short Term
Dublin Corporation, for years, concentrated in Ballymun people with a 'low' socio-economic status.
The problem here was not the people but the concentration.
This means that more people must be brought into Ballymun to help improve the socio-economic balance in the short term. However we want to ensure that Ballymun is no longer used as a 'dumping ground' by the Corporation for nearly ALL the less well off in Dublin. We deserve better treatment and those who are less well off deserve better treatment than that given by the Corporation.
Again...it's NOT the people, it's the CONCENTRATION that must be avoided and
NOBODY CURRENTLY LIVING IN BALLYMUN SHOULD HAVE TO LEAVE AGAINST THEIR GENUINE WISHES.
The number of new residents housed in Ballymun must not lead to the creation of excessive housing densities. This would merely lead to a fall in our standards of living and our privacy
Issue 2 - The Long Term
In the long term, the socio-economic regeneration of Ballymun and it's prosperity rests on one issue only :
EDUCATION
The government recognises that education plays the leading role in Irelands Celtic Tiger Economy
Education provides the trained work force that attracts companies to any location.
This applies at national, regional and local level.
Many foreign governments recognise that Ireland has one of the best educated people in the world.
But everything is different in Ballymun.
Here, 66% of our children leave school before doing their Leaving Certificate. And this is at a time when to begin a successful, well paid career, a person needs to have a Third Level Qualification.
This does not mean that a person has to go to university to get a job.
What it DOES MEAN is that
a Third Level qualification gives a person a better chance.
So it stands to reason that everything possible must be done to get our children to stay on in school and preferrably get a Third Level qualification.
SCHOOLS
Ballymun has 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools. The Senior Comprehensive will eventually amalgamate with the Junior Comprehensive so that the 2 schools will be housed in the Junior Comprehensive buildings. There is no dedicated building for Adult, Continuing, or Second Chance Education.
THE SENIOR COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL BUILDING MUST BE GIVEN OVER TO ADULT, CONTINUING and SECOND CHANCE EDUCATION
after amalgamation.
HOWEVER BRL HAS NO MONEY TO IMPLEMENT EDUCATION PLANS IN THE MASTERPLAN
Therefore we must insist and lobby the government, with the Department of Education, to
1.
Implement early learning and pre-school education across Ballymun in order to promote as ealry as possible in children, the importance of education.
2.
Allocate more resources to Primary Schools to reduce Pupil-Teacher ratios and to improve the educational experience of younger children.
3.
Allocate more teachers to the Comprehensive Schools to reduce the Pupil-Teacher Ratio and improve the school environment for children.
4.
This improvement must go beyond the provisions of the latest plans to reduce the PT ratio nationally.
5.
The Amalgamated Comprehensive School must be FULLY refurbished to the highest standards and must incorporate the latest in Classroom equipment.
6.
All Schools should be FULLY resourced to provide a greater variety of educational experience and programmes.
7.
A dedicated Information and Communications Technology teacher must be provided for each level of the education system in Ballymun, naturally with the appropriate equipment.
8.
The Ballymun Initiative for Third Level Education must recieve increased annual funding in order to extend its invaluable work, including mentoring and after-school study, to the greatest number of students possible.
9.
Adult, Continuing, and Second Chance educational initiatives must be fully funded to enable people to improve their job prospects.
10.
A programme must be adopted to encourage local parents to send their children to the schools here.
11.
A full demographic study with projections for future education demand must be undertaken first before any decision is made to amalgamate the Comprehensive Schools. Either way, the above measures are NEEDED.
These proposals are the only way of ensuring that the jobs opportunities available to Ballymun people are not limited by education factors.
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