1st September 2023
Responding to issues around the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in schools, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) today gave a guarded welcome to the statement from the Department of Education that it has commissioned the Education Authority (EA) to “carry out structural surveys to ascertain the scope and scale of RAAC presence in schools in Northern Ireland.”
Mark McTaggart, INTO Northern Secretary, said:
“The health and safety of pupils and staff must be the priority in relation to RAAC. It is of grave concern to this union that it has taken to the beginning of a new school year for these surveys to begin, given that the issue was identified in schools in England as early as 2018.
This is a further demonstration of the wilful neglect and underfunding of the education system over the past decade.
Where issues are identified, it is paramount that any remedial action is managed swiftly, and with as little disruption to the education of children and young people as possible and cannot be funded from the existing school budgets.”
ENDS