FIRST Minister Arlene Foster visited St. Kevin’s College, Lisnaskea last Friday, September 25 in advance of a visit later in the month by Education Minister Peter Weir.

The school has asked Mrs. Foster and the Department of Education for a new site for the school, which is severely overcrowded.

In a presentation to Mrs. Foster, school Principal Gary Kelly outlined some of the facts of the matter.

Since the amalgamation of St. Comhghall's College, Lisnaskea and St. Eugene's College, Rosslea in 2017, there has been an increase in the numbers of pupils who are attending the school.

Mr. Kelly said: “We retained all of the students from the amalgamation in 2017 - we did not lose a single one.

“We have gone up almost 500 pupils, [in the years] from 2006 to 2020. [Today] in Year Eight alone, there are 111 pupils.”

St. Kevin’s College has been one of the highest-achieving schools in GCSE league tables in Northern Ireland.

It topped the Irish News table in the academic year 2018/19, with 90 per cent of Fifth Year pupils at the school achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C, including English and Maths, in 2019.

Mr. Kelly said: “The school is a victim of its own success with its results, as now there is a high demand for places. We can’t turn a kid away.”

One of the major problems at St. Kevin’s is how it physically accommodates students. Its lack of space was a problem before Covid-19 and social distancing rules came into place.

The school's space concerns was highlighted by an Education and Training Inspectorate (E.T.I) inspection, which published health and safety concerns in its report, namely that “there is insufficient classroom and accommodation; there is no fire exit on the first floor, and there is insufficient toilet facilities for pupils in the school”.

Mr. Kelly compared the size of one classroom for 12 pupils to the kitchen in his home. “I have 12 students in a room that's 8 by 4 metres. Last night, I measured my kitchen, and it's bigger than the room I teach in.”

Such issues are not for a lack of funds on the school's behalf, as St. Kevin’s College is currently recording a ten per cent surplus in budget.

Mr. Kelly believes he is nine teachers short of what the school should have. He said: “I don’t even have the rooms to put teachers in.”

Another example of poor accommodation that was presented to the First Minister was the staff room for teachers and support staff.

Mr. Kelly said: “There are 50 teachers at St. Kevin’s and 50 support staff, and our staff room will hold 20 people, and that was before social distancing and Covid [rules came into play].”

Summing the school's circumstances up for Mrs. Foster, he said: “There are too many problems to keep sticking plasters on.”

One A-Level music student, Meabh Markey, spoke to Mrs. Dowds and laid out the reality of the lack of facilities for her learning.

She told the First Minister: “We don’t even have a proper music room. Music is taught in a photocopying room; we sit on boxes of copy paper. We have nowhere to store our instruments or anywhere to practice.”

She summarised her feeling when she said: “I feel I’ve a better chance to learn in better facilities."

Two students who gave The Impartial Reporter an insight into the importance of Mrs. Foster’s visit were the Head Boy and Head Girl.

Head Boy, Niall McCaffrey, said: “It’s great to have the First Minister here. It is true there are many problems here that we have experienced over the years that need to be fixed.”

Head Girl, Aoife Wray, spoke about the difficulty of travelling to the off-site study room located on the other side of Lisnaskea, where other classes are also taking place, due to Covid-19.

She said: “It’s very cold [there], and since it is off-site, the laptops don’t work because the WiFi is dodgy. We always get delayed, too, so miss out time for studying.”

Speaking to this newspaper about her visit, Mrs. Foster said: “St. Kevin's has been a tremendous school here in County Fermanagh, in terms of the results they have put in, year on year, since the amalgamation happened back in 2017.

"Because of that, they have grown quite a bit, and like other schools in Fermanagh that have amalgamated - [including] Duke of Westminster and Enniskillen High School, Portora Royal School and Enniskillen Collegiate Grammar - unfortunately, their new build has not materialised.

"I think that it was very instructive for me to see today the way in which children are in sub-standard accommodation [at St. Kevin's] and we look forward to the visit of the Education Minister at the beginning of October.”