The Department of Education has found that enrolment at a rural primary school in North Clare has more than halved in the last eight yeasr.
An inspection of Boston National School, near Tubber, has found that there were no students in first or second class and that enrolment had fallen to 12 pupils, down from 30 in 2004.
Inspectors have called for an overhaul of some practices there, saying there is a critical need for regular formal staff meetings, but the quality of learning support teaching and the friendly atmosphere in the school have both been praised.
At the time of the report, Boston National School had three teachers, one of whom on a learning support basis, but it recently lost a member of teaching staff under cuts announced by the Department of Education.
