Department of Education approves extra class but no teacher - Cllr Bill Clear
Thursday 25th June 2026, 07:22am
Independent Ireland Councillor Bill Clear has called on the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton, and the Department of Education to immediately provide a teacher for an additional Junior Infants class approved for St Corban's National School in Naas.
The Department has approved a new class to accommodate 25 additional Junior Infants this September but, incredibly, has not approved a teaching post to staff the classroom.
Cllr Clear said he has been inundated with calls and messages from worried parents who were informed earlier this year that their children had secured places in the school.
"I am absolutely flabbergasted that this situation has arisen. For the first time in the history of Naas, we had children without school places due to the enormous population growth in one of Ireland's fastest-growing towns.
Following significant work by the school, parents, public representatives and the Department, an additional class was finally approved. Yet somehow a classroom has been approved without a teacher to teach the children. It simply defies belief."
Cllr Clear said parents are now facing unnecessary uncertainty only weeks before the start of the new school year.
"Parents need certainty. They need to know whether their child will have a place in school this September. It is simply not acceptable that families are left wondering whether this class can actually operate because a teaching post has not been sanctioned."
He said the situation highlights the continuing failure to match educational infrastructure with the rapid growth taking place in Naas and across North Kildare.
"Naas continues to grow at a remarkable pace. New housing developments are being built every year, yet essential services such as school places continue to struggle to keep up. We cannot continue planning communities without ensuring the necessary educational resources are in place."
Cllr Clear is now calling on the Minister and the Department of Education to urgently resolve the issue and approve the required teaching post without delay.
"This is not good enough. The Department must act immediately and provide the teacher needed for this class. Twenty-five children and their families should not be left in limbo because of an administrative oversight."
