GOVERNMENTS, north and south, must "stop their attack" on small schools, teachers have urged.
The all-Ireland INTO union has questioned the thinking behind the closure of small schools and the "resulting urbanisation of communities".
The union, which held its annual congress in Belfast this week, asked for a fair and open policy that considered factors other than money.
In the north, small schools share an extra £40 million between them a year as a lifeline to keep them open.
An audit report published two years ago found there were too many small schools that required additional funding.
They have larger costs per pupil than larger institutions. Additional cash is provided by a formula for all small schools, regardless of circumstances. This has been found to be inconsistent with government's sustainable schools policy.
The policy recommends that at least 105 pupils should be enrolled in a rural primary school while urban primaries should have 140.
Since the government accepted the recommendations of the Bain Report on sustainable schools in 2007, almost 150 have been approved for closure or amalgamation.
Pushing schools to amalgamate, the INTO said, was "unfair and short-sighted".
Members demanded that the main consideration in any proposed amalgamation should be the needs of pupils, parents and the wider community.
Ann Horan from Limerick said, at the end of the last school year, there were 588 schools with fewer than 50 pupils in the Republic.
"These are small schools, valued by parents and at the heart of the communities they serve," she said.
"In budget, 2012 the government targeted two, three and four teacher schools with increases in the staffing schedule. We now need 19 pupils to appoint a second teacher, 55 for a third teacher and 85 for a fourth teacher.
"Small schools have served rural communities well for generations. It is now time to support our small schools by changing the staffing schedule in a favourable manner."
Michael Weed from Donegal told the congress of similarities between north and south.
"The politically taboo words `school closures' were never used though in reality closures did occur. In the north closures were given the innocuous title of `area planning'," he said.
"Both north and south INTO should seek to ensure viability of small rural schools in their communities. We should support their retention and formulate a plan for the future that will make them less vulnerable to recessions, austerity and the whims of government."
