Small schools are not luxuries; they are the anchors of rural communities. Photograph: Getty Images/iStock
Small schools are the beating heart of rural Ireland – yet many are fighting just to keep their doors open. Media reports about “empty schools” miss the point entirely. Context, as always, is key.
Rural schools face a myriad of pressures: falling birth rates, population drift, restrictions on planning permission, weak public infrastructure and years of economic neglect. But the rot truly set in with the austerity cuts of 2012.
That year, small schools were disproportionately hit as government decisions drove up pupil-teacher ratios, which stripped teachers from them and slashed alre
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.