Navan needs secondary school fast-tracked now, says mayor

The Mayor, Cllr Joe Reilly, called on the Minister for Education to recognise the growing crisis in the provision of secondary school places and the immediate need for a secondary school in north Navan. Cllr Reilly said that, due to the absence of the long-promised new secondary school in Navan and the shortage of school places, Navan is pushing its pupils out to schools in Kells, Dunboyne, Nobber and Drogheda. "This is an unacceptable policy. As chairperson of the board of management of Beaufort College, I am acutely aware of the need for a new secondary school," he said. He said it was not good enough for the Department of Education to say it agrees in principle with the provision of a secondary school in Navan and then do nothing about it. "Last year witnessed parents panicking over the lack of places. This September will see even more puplis unable to find places and a desperate search by parents for non-existent places in Navan secondary schools," added Cllr Reilly. He pointed out that recent newspaper reports have said that only €560 million out of the €5 billion allocated in the Government's capital investment programme for 2010 has been spent so far this year. "For every €1 billion capital investment in schools, 28,000 jobs are created. Why is the Minister for Education and the Government not fast-tracking the capital programme as committed to in their own budget?" he asked. Cllr Reilly asked parents and educationalists to raise the issue of a new secondary school with the department and he said he has requested Senator Pearse Doherty, Sinn Fein's Education Spokesperson, to raise the issue with the Minister for Education.