Private schools ‘deserve Covid aid’
A PRIVATE-SCHOOL principal in south Dublin has hit out at public and fee-paying schools getting different treatment when it comes to Government aid.
Ben Healy, principal of St Joseph of Cluny Secondary School in Killiney, south Dublin, said it is unfair that his teachers and students are being thought less of than other people in State education.
His criticism follows confirmation fee-paying schools will not automatically be entitled to Government aid aimed at Covid-proofing schools for their upcoming reopening.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Education Minister Norma Foley last month announced a grant worth €375million would be made available to ensure schools can reopen safely.
This was to allow for the purchase of personal protective equipment and for structural changes to ensure social distancing. However, the Department of Education later confirmed private schools will not be automatically entitled to a grant and will have to apply for funding.
There are currently 51 private schools in the State.
Mr Healy said the all-girls school he is headmaster of currently has 260 students and charges an annual fee of €4,850 per pupil.
The main issue for the school, he explained, will be obtaining and paying for PPE. ‘There was a lot of disappointment that we weren’t automatically going to get funding,’ Mr Healy told the Irish Daily Mail.
‘We obviously will apply; we’ll see how we get on. From our point of view, there are teachers in the school who, like myself, will require PPE. The students will as well. Why is there a differentiation between teachers who are in my school and are being paid by the State? Why is there that difference in terms of having to buy in our PPE?’
He said the delayed confirmation about grant applications will impact his school’s budget, and he dismissed the idea that private schools have smaller class sizes or money lying around to pay for extras.