Parents describe secondary school conditions as ‘filthy’ and ‘disgrace’

A SECONDARY school in Citywest has been described as “filthy” and “a disgrace” by a parent, who is calling on the Department of Education to provide funding for a full-time cleaner in the school.

A mother who asked to remain unnamed, and whose son attends the school, Coláiste Pobail Fóla, voiced her shock at the condition of the school.

“My son joined the school in September,” she told The Echo.

“About a month or six weeks into him starting school there, the principal sent an invitation out to the parents for them to visit the school.

“They gave a presentation, but I didn’t hear one word that was said because I was looking at the filth of the place.

“They brought us into one of the classrooms, and there was muck all over the floor – months and months of dirt was there.”

The concerned parent said, as she understands it, the school hasn’t received funding from the Department of Education for a cleaner because it’s relatively small, with just over 450 pupils.

“It seems to be that they have to have a certain amount of kids in the school before they can qualify for funding for a full-time cleaner,” she explained.

“But it’s at the stage now where the parents are all in a WhatsApp group and everyone’s talking about it.

Calls have been made for a full-tme cleaner at a local secondary school

“It seems like the principal’s hands are tied, because they can’t get funding from the Department, but then, on the other side of it, who is responsible for cleaning the school?

“It’s a disgrace, the bins are overflowing…it’s bad. In this day and age, it’s shocking to think that a school could be like that.

“And it’s not just that the floors haven’t been swept or cleaned, you can see that there’s months and months of build-up on the floors. The school is manky dirty.”

Parents feel a degree of reluctance about sending their children into the school, according to the parent who spoke to The Echo, due to the condition it’s in.

“With that building being let go the way it is,” she said, “the kids don’t care about it, because they can see that nobody else cares.”

A text message that was sent to parents of students on Monday, and that was seen by The Echo, said: “Thank you to everyone who has corresponded with us regarding cleaners. The Department have allocated further funding and the entire school will be deep cleaned over the upcoming weekends.”

The Echo contacted the Department of Education and Coláiste Pobail Fóla for comment, but a response wasn’t received at the time of going to print.