Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has announced details of 28 new school building projects, most of which will be project managed by Vocational Education Committees (VECs).

The schemes, which include new builds, extensions and replacement buildings, will be managed by 13 individual VECs, while one new establishment will be overseen by Louth County Council.

In total, the facilities will provide for more than 21,000 students, including 14,000 additional places, in order to meet growing demand over the next three years.

Such schemes may be vital for the future, as recent data from the Central Statistics Office revealed there were 19,950 births recorded in the first quarter of 2011, a 7.6 per cent rise from the previous year.

This will mean that enrolment numbers in primary schools are expected to grow from 509,650 pupils in the current school year to 554,700 pupils in 2018.

Mr Quinn said he was pleased the VECs had agreed to take on project management of these schemes.

He added: "I am committed to using alternative methods of delivering major school building projects in order to maximise the number of projects we deliver and to speed up delivery."

Written by Donal Walsh
 

Comments