IPPN

Published: 14 January 2009

Source: Irish Independent

By: Kim Bielenberg

Schools across the country are set to slash transition year activities as the Budget cutbacks take effect.

School outings, field trips, workshops and other activities that incur extra costs are all under threat because many schools can no longer afford them.

In schools where the activities are retained, principals may pass on the extra costs to parents, with an extra bill of €100 considered likely.

There are also fears in education circles that some schools will simply scrap their TY programmes completely because of the expense. Increasingly, the year is being seen as a middle-class luxury.

The ending of the €100 annual grant for TY students may not have been a headline grabber at the time of the Budget. But it could have a profound effect on education.

Under the Budget provisions, schools were paid a proportion of the grant to last them until December, but now they will rely on the small increase in general capitation grants to schools as compensation. That money is not ring-fenced for transition year.

"It is already having an effect,'' says Noel Buckley, a TY co-ordinator at Presentation Secondary School in Clonmel. "I would have liked to take students to the Young Scientist Exhibition, but I had to look at my budgets. So, I couldn't do it.

"The real problem will come with next year's programme, when there will be no grant at all. Some schools will be deciding whether they can still afford transition year.''

At least one school in the Dublin area, which was planning to introduce TY from September, has now decided not to go ahead with it.

Noel Merrick, principal of Naas CBS and president of the Joint Managerial Body for Secondary Schools, said the TY cut was likely to put huge financial pressure on schools and parents.

According to Mr Merrick, it is not just the end of the grant that is affecting transition year.

"We have fewer teachers in schools as a result of the Budget. So we have to look at how many we have in transition year.

"There is also the issue of substitution cover for teachers on field trips for transition year. That has gone. So we are relying on the goodwill of other teachers to cover for them when they are away on a trip.''

A comprehensive TY programme can be expensive. Taking students on a day trip usually costs around €500 for coach hire. A typical TY event such as an interview skills workshop costs a school €300. There are also substantial equipment costs.

In most schools, parents pay significant fees to cover the cost of outings.

At Naas CBS, parents pay €300 per student -- and the fee includes a trip to an adventure centre in the West.

"It is very difficult to ask parents to pay more, because we are a non fee-paying school,'' says Mr Merrick. "Also, you have to consider that many parents have financial pressures of their own at the moment as a result of the recession.''

Noel Buckley, from Clonmel, said many parents may decide to exclude their children from transition year because they can't afford it.

"It is a great shame that this hugely important education experience is being endangered at the stroke of a pen,'' said Mr Buckley.

Young Social Innovators is one of the numerous national programmes aimed at TY students. Students are encouraged to take part in voluntary projects aimed at raising social awareness.

Rachel Collier, chief executive of Young Social Innovators, is concerned about future participation in the scheme.

"We would hold regional events where transition year students come to make presentations. They are accompanied by teachers. There is also a national showcase, where students travel to Dublin. The cutbacks are likely to be a problem, because schools may not have the funds.''

Critics tend to see transition year as a "doss year'', but there is a growing consensus among teachers, school principals and education experts that it benefits pupils academically and in other ways.

At one stage, the Government was planning to make transition year available in all schools, but this is now considered most unlikely.

TY is seen by its supporters as one of the few antidotes to the rote learning and exam obsession that continue to dominate the junior and senior cycles.

A report by the Economic and Social Research Institute showed that students who do transition year tend to score significantly higher points on the Leaving Cert. Taking social background into account, the average CAO points advantage is 25. Among middle-class students, the dividend is higher.

The ESRI research also shows transition pupils are more likely to go on to third-level education. Dr Gerry Jeffers, lecturer in education at NUI Maynooth, says students also gain from transition year in their social and personal development.

"The whole idea of transition year is to extend the learning environment beyond the classroom. It has to be a hands-on experience.

"For biology, you are taking students to the sea shore; for art, you are bringing them to the gallery to see the paintings. The problem is that this costs money.

"In practical terms, students have to get a bus, and trips often require more than one teacher.

"With the cutbacks, there is a danger that the more ground-breaking, adventurous features of transition year will be dropped.''

The year of learning differently ...

● Just under half of all pupils at Irish second-level schools do transition year, and it is now available in 75pc of schools.

● The TY programme has three main aims:

1. Education for maturity with emphasis on personal development, including social awareness and social competence.

2. The promotion of general, technical and academic skills, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and selfdirected learning.

3. Education through experience of adult and working life as a basis for personal development and maturity.

- Kim Bielenberg