Temporary reprieve

On Thursday, under adult supervision, 15 children attending Artigarvan Primary School had to walk a mile-and-a-half to their first day at school, while pupils from the same rural area attending the newly amalgamated Strabane Academy faced a hike of up to three miles. Half of the older pupils’ walk was along the busy 60mph A5 route - a road without a footpath or street lighting.

However, following a 24-hour period of intense meetings, backed by the PSNI chief inspector voicing concern over the safety issues involved, the Western Educatioon and Library Board offered a temporary reprieve while a safety survey is conducted.

Karen Donnell, a parent representative member of the Board of Governors of Artigarvan Primary school, said the expectation that children were expected to walk long distances, much of the distance on rural roads with no lighting and no paths, was “crazy” and that parents and guardians would fight to ensure that children living in rural areas without access to footpaths and street lighting continued to receive free transport to school.

She said 15 children were effected by the two-mile statutory ruling at Artigarvan Primary, while for Strabane Academy, which has 680 pupils, 280 pupils are effected by the three-mile rule.

The statutory ruling places the onus on the Western Board to transport pupils at post primary schools who live more than three miles from their nearest suitable school, with the onus on parents for children living under that distance. The statutory distance for a primary school is two miles.

“We have been told that this is a temporary reprieve and will last no more than one week,” said Mrs Donnell, adding: “What the Board has decided to do is a road safety survey and the outcome of this will determine whether or not there will be transport in the future.”

Praising the police chief in Strabane, Chief Inspector Andy Lemon for his concern and for meeting parents and guardians to duscuss their fears, Mrs Donnell continued: “He assured us that he was taking our concerns about road safety seriously, and told us that he also had great concerns about about young people walking along the road to the village and on the main road.

“Our concerns were realised on Thursday when one grandmother, who minds her granchild in the afternoons, fell after she stepped onto the verge to let a lorry pass, and he was covered in cuts and grazes. It could have been so much worse, but thankfully the police were there and were able to offer her first aid.”

While the journey to school has temporary transport, the journey home from the primary school does not.

Reflecting on the return to school on Thursday, which included some very young children attending school for the first time, Karen said: “On Thursday we were faced with several very small children being forced to walk up to one-and-a-half miles to Artigarvan Primary School for their first day because they were denied a school bus place. These children, just four years old have fathers who are employed and mothers who either do not drive or do not have access to a family car. The journey they walked was on a road with no footpath and no lighting, and if they do not make the journey every day then the Western Education and Library Board will pursue the parents for the child’s non-attendance.

“More important for us at the school is the safety or our children on a road which is not of sufficient standard for anyone to walk, not to mention that children are going to arrive at school tired, and maybe even in need of a change of clothes depending on the weather. What will happen if we have another severe winter?

“At Artigarvan Primary School we have 15 children effected by this ruling. Are tiny children really expected to walk these distances with over a foot of snow and ice on the road, with no lights and no footpaths? This is crazy,” said Karen.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “We can confirm that police met with parents to discuss their concerns. Area Commander Chief Inspector Andy Lemon expressed his concerns about children walking on roads with no pavements, especially coming into the winter months.”

A spokesperson for the Western Education and Library Board confirmed that a meeting took place at WELB headquarters between Board officers, political representatives and a delegation from a number of schools in the Strabane area, to discuss transport arrangements in Strabane.

A Board spokesperson said: “A number of actions were agreed: Representatives and parents requested that the Board undertake a safety assessment to be carried out on a number of rural walking routes. The Board has agreed to facilitate this request.”

The Board also agreed to investigate additional considerations identified by the delegation in respect of the distance assessment for some pupils attending Strabane Academy, while public representatives agreed to raise a range of “other relevant concerns” at a regional level.

“In previous years, the Board was able to offer concessionary Home to School Transport assistance to some pupils who would not normally be entitled to it, because there were surplus seats available on Board-owned or contracted vehicles and this was provided at no additional expense to the public purse. However, in Strabane this concessionary facility has had to be withdrawn from September 2011, because there is now little or no surplus capacity on buses. This additional capacity existed in the past because of the later starting and closing times of Strabane High School. A new time-table was agreed for the commencement of Strabane Academy. This would have had to be introduced regardless of the creation of the new school, in keeping with the demands of the Entitlement Framework.”