Schools ‘ buckling under the strain’ are left ‘disappointed’
THE Government was yesterday accused, by one of the country’s largest teacher unions, of failing second-level schools by doing little to address large class sizes.
ASTI president Miriam Duggan also said that the new Budget plans are ‘disappointing’ and will do little to address the chronic underfunding of second-level schools.
Despite the Government’s additional one-off funding for energy costs and school transport, money is still needed for increased school operational costs. Ms Duggan said: ‘Ireland is in last place out of 36 OECD countries for investment in second-level education as a percentage of GDP.
The funding gap experienced by second-level schools is not new and arose long before current inflationary increases.’ And the disappointment continued yesterday for secondary schools with no mention of class size reductions.
Ms Duggan said: ‘Schools are buckling under the strain. They welcome more students every year, from Ukraine and other challenging situations.’
‘The 296 second-level teachers mentioned in today’s Budget relate to demographic changes only and will do nothing to augment supports for schools or reduce class sizes for students.’
However, primary school class sizes will become smaller after Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath announced a reduction in the staffing schedule, providing 370 additional teacher posts. The move means the pupil-toteacher ratio will reduce to 23:1. Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Boyle said: ‘Today, we move yet another significant step closer to our goal of ensuring Ireland’s young children will no longer learn in a class with more than 20 pupils.’
In addition, Mr McGrath announced funding of €47million for free school books for all 500,000 primary pupils next year as part of the Free Education Scheme. Funding was also allocated for 686 additional primary school teachers to support those with special educational needs.
Education Minister Norma Foley said she was proud to have secured ground-breaking investments in the country’s education system.
Meanwhile, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) said the Budget failed to address the student accommodation crisis and that the €1,000 reduction to the Student Contribution Charge should be permanent and came too late for many who deferred.
Mr McGrath said €3.9billion will be allocated to the further and higher education and research sector in 2023. However, USI president Beth O’Reilly said: ‘Today’s Budget was a missed opportunity to permanently reduce the Student Contribution Charge and start the move towards abolishing fees. This “once-off” reduction will be quickly spent on high rents and soaring costs of living. Through this reduction, the Government is
‘The funding gap is not new’ ‘It will be quickly spent on rents’
recognising that high fees are a barrier to accessing higher education and the measures set to be introduced to SUSI [Student Universal Support Ireland] from next year will not remove the significant barriers that currently face the hardest-pressed students and their families.
‘We don’t see any measures in this Budget to address the student accommodation crisis, which is making college inaccessible, or an extreme hardship, for many.’
In recognition of the increasing cost of living for students, Mr McGrath said there will be a longterm reduction of college fees.
The Student Contribution Fee will be cut based on a family’s household income.