Chapter 7 — Artane

Neglect

Br Wiatt held the position of Principal from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. He was praised in many Visitation Reports for the well-organised manner in which he ran the School.

The Visitation Report in November 1938 noted that the School was well organised and the classes of reasonable size. The Visitor remarked that the numbers of boys in classes was in fact lower than in ordinary schools. There was a wide divergence in ages amongst children, particularly in the lowest class, because many children who were admitted to Artane had little or no education before being sent there. In the 1930s and 1940s, when numbers in the School rose to over 800, there were up to 24 teachers engaged in teaching classes, from infants through to 6th standard. The teaching staff was mostly made up of Brothers. By the mid-1950s, the number had reduced to 16 classes with 14 teachers, due to falling numbers.

By 1957, there were 526 boys in the Institution, a drop of over 200 in two years. The Visitation Report that year noted that the School was overstaffed, with 12 teachers, and class sizes were well below average. Numbers continued to drop steadily in the Institution into the 1960s and, by 1968, there were 280 boys in the School.

The school day was unconventional. Most of the boys attended school in the morning, from 9.30 a.m. to 11.40 a.m. and returned in the evening, from 5.00 p.m. to 7.15 p.m., a feature that the Cussen Commission criticised. The afternoons were spent in trades, at band practice or at knitting school.

There was also ‘midday school’, which ran until 2.00 p.m. and catered for children of all ages who were classed ‘backward and neglected’. Children who were not otherwise engaged in trades, the farm or the band attended this class. The value of this class was questioned by the Visitor in 1958. It did not follow any particular curriculum and was not subject to Departmental Inspections.

Boys over 14 who attended trades-training all day were required to attend ‘continuation school’, which ran from 5.00 p.m. to 7.15 p.m. They were taught by the same teachers who took the midday class, and these classes were not subject to inspection by the Department of Education.

Although the continuation school offered an opportunity for extra education to boys who might not otherwise achieve 6th class standard, nevertheless there was little room in the above timetable for recreation. The boys who attended the continuation school in the evening did so after a long day working in a trade or on the farm. They were exhausted by the time they got to school, and did not even have time to change out of their work clothes before class.83 This daily routine remained until the School closed in 1968, although it was debated in 1959 whether normal school hours should be introduced.

The same year, a secondary top school was formed in the School, although the Visitor opined in his Visitation Report of 1965 that a technical top might have been more appropriate. The School had opted for the secondary top, as there were no metal or woodwork teachers available.

Two classes were formed from amongst those who had passed their Primary Certificate, and the first tranche of boys from Artane prepared to sit their Intermediate Certificate in 1966. However, it was also the last time a boy from Artane Industrial School would sit this examination. The Visitation Report of December 1966 noted that the class had been discontinued because of Department regulations. Only eight boys had passed the examination that year. Instead, a class for boys who wished to join the catering industry was set up under the supervision of the CERT84 organisation. It was hoped that the more promising boys could continue their education in the local secondary schools, although the Committee has seen no evidence that this ever occurred.

In 1964, a special remedial class was formed for boys of sub-normal ability. The class was a success, and the Principal hoped to form another class so that the age range of boys would not be so disparate.

By 1966, the number of boys of sub-normal ability had increased to the point where it was becoming an acute problem. The Christian Brothers were critical of the Department’s policy of directing these boys to Artane when the Institution did not have the specialised facilities to deal with these children.

The School followed the National School programme, and the boys were eligible to sit the Primary Certificate examination. Many of the Visitation Reports point to the high success rate of the boys who sat this examination, but these figures need to be examined against the total number of boys in 6th standard. In some years, up to 50% of the boys in 6th standard in the primary school were not presented for this examination, which made the very high pass rate for those who did sit for it less significant.

The standard of education for the boys engaged in trades during the day was criticised by a number of Visitors. The first hint of disapproval appeared in the Visitation Report of 1947, in which the Visitor noted that the few hours devoted to school work in the evening lacked drive and efficiency. In 1952, the Visitor queried in his report the wisdom of taking the boys out of primary school at the age of 14, regardless of whether they had reached the 6th standard.

In 1952, the Visitor noted that more could be done for this category of boys. He stated: ... our institutions owe a great deal to those boys who work full time at their trades. Their work is of great financial advantage to each establishment. One obvious difficulty is that those teaching the trades are tradesmen and not teachers. If they have the power to control and teach it is only by accident and not as a result of their previous training.

He noted with satisfaction the introduction of mechanical drawing during evening classes, and wondered whether it would be possible to employ vocational teachers to develop this aspect of education further.