A LETTERKENNY principal whose school has welcomed 19 Ukrainian students has appealed to the Education Department to provide urgent extra resources.
Nineteen Ukrainian students started at Errigal College, Letterkenny on Monday last and have been settling into school-life here.
The school has been providing extra English classes and pastoral support for the students but unfortunately, additional resources and funding from the Education Department have not yet been forthcoming.
The school has applied for funding for the additional students and teaching hours along with a request for extra furniture but these have not yet been delivered and Principal Mr Danny McFadden fears that there will be no progress until at least after the Easter holidays.
Speaking to the Donegal News, he explained that the school has been very creative with extra English classes but said Department needs to move quicker to provide the extra resources.
“I have been writing and phoning the Department because we need resources to be able to cope and deal with the additional numbers,” said Mr McFadden.
“There is extra resources needed for allocation but we are also stretched in terms of space. We do not have one spare room at any given time.
“We are at maximum capacity and I have even made an application to the Department for extra furniture for the classrooms because we don’t have enough tables and chairs.
“The Department really needs to step up here and start working with us to support these students.
“This is not just about throwing them into the educational system but we need to be supporting them with additional English classes,” said Mr McFadden.
The school has also been providing extra pastoral support for the students with the help of Polish teacher Katarzyna Baranowska. Ms Baranowska meets with the students a couple times a week to see how classes are going and to address any issues.
Deputy principal Deirdre Markham explained the school is being forced to take money out of other funding pots to provide these extra resources.
“We are trying to find hours for teachers to take the students on their own and we trying to fund that on our own.
“We are pulling funds out of other pots but by the time the allocation comes in, it will be after Easter.
“I need to be able to tell a teacher that if they take students out and work with them that we will be able to pay them,” said Ms Markham.
More Ukrainian students are also expected to start at the school in the coming weeks.
Mr McFadden said the school will support them in whatever way it can but the resources must be supplied to ensure the students are supported fully.
“From talking to the various agencies, there will be more students coming so we need to be prepared and support these students.
”It is traumatic enough coming into a new school in a new country after everything they have been through so we need to be ready to welcome them and provide them with whatever they need.
“I am very aware that there are so many different supports working outside the school with these families and that they are doing an incredible job but as schools, there needs to be more support and extra resources,” said Mr McFadden.
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