Further extension for CPC

Cross & Passion College is to begin a further extension in 2018 as part of the Department of Education & Skills School Building Programme 2016-2021, writes Brian Byrne.

It is one of 20 schools in the county to benefit from the €2bn Programme, 12 of them in south Kildare.

This is against the background of expected strong growth nationally of numbers attending both primary and second level schools.

While primary schools growth is expected to peak around 2018, second level demand will continue to grow until 2025, with more than 41,000 additional second level school places required over the period.

The estimates are based on migration and fertility expectation, and Ireland had the highest birth rate in the EU in 2014, with 14.4 babies born per 1,000 residents. The EU average is 10.1.