WE look at the stories that were making the new headlines in the Andersonstown News this week in 1985...
Fears over school closures
A WAVE of redundancies is set to rock secondary schools in West Belfast and may, in fact, jeopardise the continued existence of some schools.
A source close to a large teachers’ organisation in the area, told the Andersonstown News that an announcement on the redundancies by the Department of Education was "imminent" and a spokesperson for the Irish Teachers’ Organisation confirmed to us that very severe cutbacks in teaching staff would be announced by Monday next.
The spokesperson said: “It’s public knowledge that the government and education authorities have been reducing the number of teachers in schools. Since 1977 the primary schools have borne the brunt of these cutbacks, but the children have now filtered through into the post primary sector. From now to the end of the decade, secondary schools throughout Northern Ireland will be experiencing cutbacks."
According to the I.N.T.O, no information was available about the exact extent of the redundancies, but the numbers would exceed previous years.
"For the past number of years schools have been requested to estimate the number of pupils they expect to enrol in the coming year and on that basis the Department works out their staff requirements," the spokesperson said.
"There will be heavy cut-backs and these are going to be particularly noticeable in West Belfast," he added.
According to our information the redundancies in local schools will continue until at least 1990 when there is expected to be some slight improvement. The future of at least five secondary schools is directly threatened by these cut-backs, and closures seem inevitable.
Return to original Poleglass plan: WP
THE Workers' Party have issued a dossier on the housing situation in West Belfast in response to the DOE's study of housing need released shortly before Christmas.
The detailed document 'People need houses and jobs' comes out strongly in support of the development of the Poleglass area along the lines envisaged before Loyalist objections forced the scaling down of the estate. Thirteen major conclusions and recommendations are included in the Workers' Party document.
These are:
1. The DOE fails to accurately identify projected housing need.
2. The DOE fails to take account of the failure to achieve previous targets and strategies in an assessment of the extent of unmet need.
3. The proposals are a reversal and abandonment of previous planning considerations.
4. The DOE fails to provide proof that the private sector is capable of meeting the targets set on it.
5. The DOE provide no justification for re-zoning industrial land for housing use.
6. The DOE fail to consider the overwhelming need for provision at Lagmore (Poleglass) as originally decided some 1 2 years ago.
7. Provision at Lagmore would make redundant the proposals of the DOE.
8. West Belfast has lost far too many industrial zones to housing and other need.
9. West Belfast would become a ghetto of unemployed people with little prospect for employment.
10. The DOE should take into public ownership private development sites where provision is not commenced within two years of planning permission being granted.
11. The Workers' Party rejects the theory of unemployment inevitability which underride the proposals to re-zone industrial land.
1 2. The Workers Party rejects the IDB's right to sell off the job prospects of any citizen.
13. The Workers' Party demands that the Minister order a public inquiry into
