Education sector allocated €4bn [IrishTimes]
- Published: 26 July 2010
The Government plans to invest more than €4 billion in capital spending via the Department of Education and Skills.
The bulk of this - €3.1 billion - will be used to upgrade primary and secondary school facilities, with more than €650 million going into the universities, institutes and other higher education facilities.
The investment will see an additional 70,000 primary school places in the run-up to 2016 in new and existing schools and a further 10,000 places in temporary accommodation in the primary sector, according to the capital investment plan. Investment in the secondary sector will open up 15,000 places in new schools.
The continued strong investment was being driven by the steady rise in pupil numbers, the plan says. Birth rates had been increasing since 1995. "The extent of this increase has already fed into demand for primary school places and is now manifest in numbers enrolling in second-level education. This trend is intensifying."
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
