THE IRISH government has declared it will build forty-two new primary and secondary schools over the next four years to help meet the growing demand caused by the county’s demographic boom.
According to RTE News, the plans are based on nationwide demographic studies carried out by the Department of Education which revealed that the number of school-going children has increased by almost 10% or 82,000 in the past six years alone.
It is expected to surpass 400,000 students for the first time by 2025. It currently stands at around 360,000 for second-level students.
Half of the new schools are scheduled to open around September 2019.
While the majority of the new schools will be built in the Dublin city area, new primary schools will be established in Kildare, Meath, Cork city, Kilkenny and Wicklow.
Ten new second-level schools are planned for the Dublin city region, while there are also plans to establish new secondary schools in Galway, Drogheda, Meath, Cork and Wicklow.
Minister for Education Richard Bruton said that the department will also continue to monitor areas where existing may need to be expanded in order to meet the needs of the local population.
In a statement, the minister said the country was creating more school places than ever before in the history of the country.
The new schools announced today are in addition to new schools previously announced for September 2018.
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