Education Issues for Party Political Canvassers
- Published: 16 February 2011
Important Education Issues Urgently Needing Debate
Education seems to have slipped off the election agenda
• Capitation Grant reduction:
o Primary schools already dependant on fund raising
o Grant for operational costs to be cut by a further 5%
• General Allocation of Special Education Needs Resources:
o Review completed, but not published. Because of increased enrolment in most schools and corresponding increase in numbers of children with SEN – if the DES applied the existing ratio of support services per school it would require additional teachers and SNAs – review must be published
• Class size:
o Average class size 28 – largest in Europe
• Cap on Special Needs Assistants:
o Number of children with SEN increasing as population also increases
o Cap on SNAs will result in more children being unable to attend mainstream schools
• Moratorium on permanent teaching posts:
o Permanent teaching positions being appointed as temporary teachers only – questionable practice under employment law – undermining teaching profession leaving schools in a state of uncertainty
• Dismantling of In School Management structure:
o Assistant Principals and Special Duties Teachers not being replaced – key in-school management capacity being taken out of schools
• School Buildings:
o Millions of euros wasted on renting prefab classrooms – need for an effective strategy to spend budget available – does the DES need to be involved in the minutia of prioritizing and sanctioning school building projects – outsource?
• Reduction in numbers of English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers:
o Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of immigrant families with school going children have not repatriated – the impact of losing EAL teachers on the other children in class will negatively affect efforts to improve literacy standards in schools
• Reduction of supports for Traveller education:
o The integration of traveller children into mainstream classes present many challenges for schools – to remove resource teachers for traveller children and visiting teacher service for travellers children will undo much of what has been achieved in recent years
• School transport:
o Bus Eireann transport in rural areas no longer freely available
o Schools that have amalgamated – school transport provided to facilitate the amalgamation now being withdrawn
