Education

The education system in Ireland was underfunded even during the Celtic Tiger. Ireland had one of the lowest levels of spending on education as a percentage of GDP among the OECD economies. Schools have always being required to raise additional funding, because the amount of money provided by the department of education has not been enough to meet the overall running of a school. School walks, coffee mornings and voluntary contributions from students parents is a feature of every Irish child’s education.

The subsequent demise of the Celtic Tiger which resulted in the largest contraction in the Irish economy in living memory has being devastating for the funding of an already underfunded system.  Special needs assistants and English language assistants have been made redundant, a policy which will have devastating consequences in the future.There has being an embargo placed on future recruits until 2014. Class sizes have increased making it even more difficult for under pressure teachers to deliver a quality education to their students

The next budget will witness even more reductions in teaching numbers, with teaching numbers to be reduced by between 1500 and 2000. Many schools have also seen their capital budgets slashed, making it impossible to build new facilities. 

In some counties the rental bill of prefabs is some €3 million a year. It would be cheaper when spread over a number of years to actually build new school buildings. But the department of education continues to waste money on renting prefabs.  Teaching children in dilapidating prefabs is a sad indictment of our so called world class education system

The third level sector has also being hit hard with an increase in student numbers but with a reduction in funding from the government. One proposal put forward by education chiefs is to cap the number of students entering third level.  This is a stupid approach focused entirely on short term gain. 

If the so called knowledge economy is to succeed in Ireland, it will require not only an overhaul of how education is delivered but an increase in funding for schools and colleges. A failure to do so could in the not so distant future see a reduction in the amount of foreign direct investment coming into the country. 

At a time when many other countries including emerging economies are investing heavily in their education systems it is imperative that Ireland keeps investing in education. Our future prosperity depends on the quality of our education system today.

While many government departments will see a reduction in the amount of capital provided to them by the government over the next few years, it is vitally important that the department of education’s budget is spared.