'Half of remote area grants' going to parents at exclusive girls school [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 26 October 2011
Half of the funding allocated by the government as part of the remote area boarding grant is going to parents of students attending a single school for girls, it has been claimed.
According to the Irish Examiner, most of the 142 pupils at Colaiste Ide - an all-Irish boarding school in Co Kerry - are eligible for the assistance, which is not means tested and can offer as much as 5,000 euros per student.
The Department of Education states: "The purpose of the scheme is to give pupils who are educationally disadvantaged because of their remoteness from schools an opportunity to attend school on the same basis."
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Special needs children get full day of school [rte.ie]
- Published: 26 October 2011
Three children with special educational needs began their first full day at school this morning - two months after everyone else.
Their school, St Raphael's Special School in Cellbridge, has been accommodating them for just one hour per day because it said it did not have enough Special Needs Assistants.
In September, the Department of Education was highly critical of the school's stance. It said the school had enough assistants.
But now the Department has agreed to provide two more SNAs after a formal assessment deemed they were needed.
Full Story: www.rte.ie
Most of Special Needs Assistants 'assigned to schools' [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 26 October 2011
Some 475 assistants were not assigned for the start of the school year and were being kept for emergencies.
However, after dozens of protests about the cutbacks in recent weeks, Mr Kenny said the extra SNAs are now being put into the system.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
Topical Issue Debate - Minority Faith Schools [debates.oireachtas.ie]
- Published: 26 October 2011
Deputy Shane Ross: This is an issue which has come up on several occasions in recent budgets because of the fears of minority religions that the education of pupils in their particular ethos has been threatened by budget cuts or other cuts in the past. The Minister will be aware that their fears were realised by his predecessor, Batt O’Keeffe, not very long ago.
At this time of year it is appropriate that representatives in this House should at least put in a plea that in the incoming budget, although I do not expect the Minister to give me any assurances on that, the ethos of minority religions will be protected. It might be helpful if I reminded the Minister that this issue was raised in the previous Dáil by no less a person than the then Deputy Enda Kenny and Deputy Brian Hayes in support of the plea I make now. It was also supported at the time these funds were threatened by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who supported the right of minority faiths to educate their own flock in their own ethos.
I ask the Minister to bear in mind when the budget discussions come up that there should be no further cuts in the budget for minority schools. It is not just Protestants who believe that. Other minority schools believe this is a right which should not be threatened. There are many fears among Protestant schools that they will have to close if their funding is cut any further. The evidence for that is obvious because the tradition of paying special grants to minority schools was guaranteed originally by the then Minister for Education and one of the Minister’s predecessors, Donogh O’Malley, who in 1967 gave this pledge which, unfortunately, has now been broken.
Full Story: debates.oireachtas.ie
In My Opinion: Privilege bias at expense of the marginalised must stop now [Independent.ie]
- Published: 26 October 2011
It has long been argued that private fee-paying schools would cease to exist if required to refund the estimated €100m subvention received from the State in the form of teacher allocation.
We believe that this is nonsense. Even if fees were increased, the majority of people currently doing so would continue to buy privilege.
However, even on examination of the economics involved it can be illustrated that the majority of fee-paying schools could reimburse their state funding and still have enough money to offer smaller class groups, greater subject choice and a range of other privileges.
It is right and commendable that parents seek the best possible education for their children. Such an education is available across the country, principally in the almost 700 schools in the non-fee sector. So the issue is not one of quality.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
