Educate Together News Release May 16th 2008

Lucan Parents Determined to Set up Educate Together Second-level School

Encouraged by the announcement of a fifth Educate Together National School for their area , as well as by support from leading educationalists, Lucan parents are fighting for an Educate Together second-level school.

A Public Meeting will be held in Finnstown House Hotel in Lucan on Wed 28th May, at 8pm, with a view to establishing a new Committee to campaign for an Educate Together second-level school in the Lucan area.

This action follows a previous campaign by parents in the Lucan area in 2002, which resulted in the setting up af the Lucan Educate Together Secondary School Association. This group collected over 1,400 pre-enrolments for the school they proposed and a local application was made to the then Minister for Education and Science to open a school. However, after some time it became clear that the Minister did not intend to sanction a school, despite the huge demand and months of hard work on the part of parents. Those parents were therefore forced to end their campaign and look for alternatives as their children reached second-level age.

With the growth in Educate Together national schools in the Lucan area in recent years, local parents have started a new campaign. They are supported by Educate Together’s national Second-level Project, which has been engaged in detailed planning for Educate Together second-level education since its launch in October 2007. Educate Together contacted the Minister for Education and Science in December in order to register as a Second-level patron and is awaiting confirmation of its registration.

Judith Neuman, member of the Board of Management of Griffeen Valley Educate Together NS and one of the parents campaigning for an Educate Together second-level school for her children, says that local parents are determined to fight for their children’s right to continue their  education within the same ethos. “We are no longer one primary school looking for this type of secondary school. With five Educate Together primary schools within a two mile radius, it is no longer a question of asking the Minister of Education ‘Can we have a school’  but asking ‘ Why don’t we have one yet?’ ”

Parents are encouraged by the positive results of an extensive feasibility study carried out by Trinity College Dublin, as well as by commments made recently by Tom Collins, Professor of Education at NUI Maynooth. Professor Collins, speaking at the Educate Together Principals’ Conference in Port Laoise last month, welcomed the news that Educate Together was entering second-level education, saying that he felt that Educate Together had a significant contribution to make at this level.

Lucan parents are not alone in campaigning for Educate Together second-level schools. Educate Together regularly receives enquiries from all over the country and there have been active groups campaigning in other areas, including Waterford, North Dublin and Galway. A facilated public workshop on Educate Together Second-level Education is being held in Waterford Educate Together National School on Saturday, 17th May, following a public meeting held there in November.

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For national comment contact: Emer Nowlan, Educate Together Second-level Project Manager.
Tel.  01 429 2500 or 087 0549753
Email emer.nowlan@educatetogether.ie

For local comment contact: Judith Neuman
Tel. 087 9313631,  email: aimsjn@iol.ie
or Colette Meehan, email: Colette.brady@hotmail.com

More information about the Educate Together second-level project is available on: