Huge potential for schools to gain revenue from selling electricity [ The Green Party]
- Published: 03 March 2009
Source : The Green Party
Statement by Paul Gogarty
Spokesperson on Education and Science; Sport; Dublin
Photovoltaic solar panels can cut school costs and earn money for says Gogarty
Cash-strapped schools now have the potential to cut their energy costs and earn additional revenue through the generation of electricity on-site, following the Government's decision to allow micro-generators to sell into the national grid.
Green Party Education Spokesperson Paul Gogarty TD has called on the Minister for Education and Science to act quickly and grasp the "huge opportunities" that exist for schools to cut their electricity costs and eventually earn an additional ongoing revenue stream.
"Following on from the decision by my Green Party colleague Energy Minister Eamon Ryan to allow micro-generators to feed into the national grid and get paid for it, there is now tremendous potential for schools to cut their electricity costs and sell off the surplus outside of school hours," he stated.
"School sites are ideal for photovoltaic solar panels. Even here in Ireland we get sufficient sunlight to generate electricity for much of the year. However up until recently the capital cost of installing a suitably-sized array of photovoltaic panels on a school roof or other suitable location would have been uneconomical. This was because much of the electricity produced during the summer and in the afternoon would have been outside school hours. In effect the schools would have been feeding the ESB for free but getting no return for the investment.
"This has now changed. Schools now have the potential to produce much of their own electricity requirements for at least half of the school year. But during weekends and especially during the summer months, schools will also be able to earn an income by selling the electricity generated to the ESB."
Deputy Gogarty has today tabled a number of parliamentary questions to the Minister for Education and Science regarding the potential of the new technology. He has called on the Minister to examine the benefits of the investment, including a loan scheme whereby new build installations or retrofitted solar panels could be funded by the Department, with the Department earning the revenue from the generation until the capital cost has been paid back.
"There are many ways for the scheme to work," said Gogarty. The options he proposes include:
1) Photovoltaic panels being installed as part of a new build or retrofitted, with the Department paying for the initial capital outlay. The money earned from the surplus electricity fed into the grid would go back to the Department until its initial capital investment is paid. The income after payback would then belong to the school.
2) Photovoltaic panels being installed as part of a new build or retrofitted, with the Department borrowing from an Irish bank under an initial capital outlay. The money earned from the surplus electricity fed into the grid would be used to repay the loan. The income after payback would then belong to the school.
3) The setting up of a loan scheme through the Irish banking sector whereby schools could apply for the capital outlay, pay back the loan and continue to earn revenue.
"Estimates as to the cost of a suitable array of photovoltaics vary, but it is fair to say that it would probably cost in the region of €100,000 for a medium sized school. But to put this in context, I recently visited a local school recently with eight classrooms. Their winter electricity bill was in the region of €8,000. It is easy to see that such a scheme would pay for itself in a reasonably short timeframe.
"This initiative does not take away from other schemes already in operation, such as the additional funding recently provided for insulation in schools. Proper insulation, good design and the ongoing progress in reducing the number of prefabs will always play a major role in cutting energy costs in schools. However the potential now exists for a new revenue stream for schools.
"I am calling on the Department of Education to take a proactive approach and set up a scheme whereby schools can apply for retrofiting of electricity-generating panels. Schools with high levels of disadvantaged pupils should be targeted first. This is a huge opportunity. I see it as a win-win situation and no doubt some progressive schools will identify its potential immediately, even if the Department does not run with the idea. I would also urge the Irish banking sector to respond positively to such capital investment as this is an opportunity to lend sensibly and receive a guaranteed return," stated Gogarty.
IPPN electricity deal with Energia saves participating schools over €250,000 in 2008
- Published: 02 March 2009
IPPN is delighted to announce that Energia, our energy partner since 2007 is now offering schools discounted electricity delivering a saving of 10% on your electricity bills. In addition to this electricity supplied by Energia to schools comes from green renewable sources. This is good news for all schools particularly those who have Green School status.
IPPN continues to monitor electricity prices to ensure that you can be confident that your school is getting the most competitive rate.
And now Energia is offering schools the opportunity to save 10% on your gas bills.
Over 500 schools have switched their electricity supply to Energia since 2007. These schools made a total saving of over €250,000 in 2008, an average of €500 per school per year*. With savings like this and the promise that savings are guaranteed even if energy prices come down, isn't it time your schools made the switch?
*Figure will vary based on usage
Why choose Energia:
• 10% saving on your electricity bill
• All electricity is from their 'GREEN RENEWABLE' portfolio
• 10% saving on your gas Bill
Based on Bord Gáis business gas energy tariffs as at 1st January 2009
• Ease of transfer - They do it
• No connection fee
• No new meters required
• Excellent Customer Service ; backed up by the IPPN Support Office
• Nothing changes ; except the price!
• No fixed term contract ; you can switch back whenever you like
How to switch:
All you have to do is call the Energia Sales Office on 091 384138 and one of their trained energy specialists will provide you with an electricity quotation based on your current usage telling you how
much you will save. We recommend that you have your electricity bill (and gas bill if applicable) close-by as they will need your meter information.
We understand that in some instances your Board of Management will be responsible for making the final decision on switching utility suppliers and with this in mind we would ask you to share this information with them at your next Board meeting.
In the meantime if you have any queries on the above please e-mail support2@ippn.ie with your contact details and the IPPN Support Office will contact you directly.
Further info:
Why Choose Energia
What some of Energias Customers have to say
O'Keeffe weighs up Australian model ; but is it flawed? [Sunday Business Post]
- Published: 01 March 2009
Source: Sunday Business Post
As college fees look set to return, Martha Kearns looks at the model on which our new system is likely to be based ; a model which is being reviewed in the country that created it.
It looks like there is no way out for the country's third-level students - college fees are on the way back.
Despite the protests of tens of thousands of students who have taken to the streets since education minister Batt O'Keeffe first mooted the return of third-level fees last year, there is no going back now.
His department officials are looking at models from across the world, and a range of proposals is being drawn up to be presented to the minister next month.
No particular option will be recommended by the group, but the minister will choose the model he prefers and recommend it to government around the time of the education sector's Easter break.
Some sources believe the fees could come in as early as September, but would only apply to new students and not to those already in the system.
Last week, O'Keeffe's advisers were at pains to point out that, whatever option was chosen, it would not simply be aping another country's structures. It would, his spokesman said, be tailored to the Irish education sector and take our own societal situation into account.
"The report that we are working on aims to present an assessment of a comprehensive range of policy approaches, but we will be developing an Irish model and tailoring it to Irish circumstances," he said.
"We will be leaving no stone unturned in looking at a range of student contribution models across the world, and the report will tease out the pros and cons of each of these models, but the final option will be a uniquely Irish model."
It is believed that some of the proposals being looked at include deferred loans, graduate taxes and straight fees - or a combination of these. It is likely that the model chosen will be a mix of grants for disadvantaged students and loans for other students, with income from the fees or repayment of loans funding the grants.
When O'Keeffe first opened up the debate on third-level fees, he said that he wouldn't envisage any family on a joint income of €100,000 having to pay third-level fees. Another option would be to means test straight fees, while more sources suggest that free fees could remain, but maintenance grants would be given in the form of loans, as in Norway.
The model that is at the forefront of these discussions is the one in use in Australia, which was the first third-level sector in the world to develop incomecontingent loans. It has since been copied in part by countries such as New Zealand and Britain.
But the system is at the centre of a heated debate in Australia, as a report into the third-level sector has made controversial recommendations to change the model.
The Australian model
University fees in Australia were abolished in 1974, as there was a significant effort to increase participation of working and middle-class Australians in third-level.
However, it did not work, and fees were brought back in 1989, under a new system called the Higher Education Contributions Scheme (Hecs), which was developed by economist and lecturer Bruce Chapman.
Chapman is believed to have been briefing senior officials in Dublin about the scheme he pioneered.
Hecs, which has since been replaced with an updated version called the Higher Education Loan Programme (Help), is based on a model of incomecontingent deferred loans. It is jointly operated by the department of education and the tax authorities.
Most students are Commonwealthsupported and have to pay only a percentage of their fees with the balance picked up by the government.
Students who can afford to pay this up front receive a 20 per cent discount. Those who cannot afford to do so can defer payment, under the Help loan scheme, until they finish the course and start work. Students who are non-Commonwealthsupported and have to pay full fees can also take advantage of the loans - up to a lifetime limit of AUD$100,000 (€50,900) for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science programmes and AUD$80,000 (€40,700) for other courses.
The loan - which is not subject to interest - only starts to be compulsorily repaid to the government when the person reaches a certain pay level - this currently stands at AUD$39,825 (€20,268).
The debt is re covered through the tax office, and the annual repayment depends on the former student's income. Students are also entitled to other grants and scholarships, which are means tested.
Overseas students are charged fees for the full cost of their education and are ineligible for any loans from the Commonwealth, but may apply for international scholarships.
When the scheme was initially introduced, publicly funded universities received the vast majority of their revenue from the government. Now student fees, charges and Help payments represents 38 per cent of their income, relieving the pressure on state funding.
But does it work?
At the end of last year, a comprehensive review of the Australian higher education system was completed by Professor Denise Bradley.
Commissioned by the deputy prime minister and minister for education Julia Gillard, the report was to form the basis for a plan for the sector until 2020.
The report concluded that, while the third-level sector had great strengths, it faced significant emerging threats that required decisive action. "To address these, major reforms are recommended to the financing and regulatory frameworks for higher education," it said.
In the area of student contributions, the report said there was no general case to increase investment in the higher education system by increasing the student contribution.
However, it did call for a "significant" increase in government funding for the sector. Other changes in this area included entitling all qualified students to Commonwealth-subsidised higher education place; increasing financial supports for students, and eligibility "made fairer based on need", as well as "significantly increasing" funding for low socioeconomic-status students and increased funding for regional and rural areas.
The recommendation that has caused the most controversy in Australia is that government funding would no longer be given to the third-level institutions, but to the student, through a voucher system, and it would "follow" students to whichever college they attended.
It is not known on which side of the debate our education minister will come down.
One of the main reasons O'Keeffe wants a return to some form of student contribution is to increase access to third-level for the disadvantaged.
Since fees were abolished by former education minister Niamh Bhreathnach in 1995, there has been little or no increase in participation from those with low-income backgrounds.
However, the Bradley report said that, despite its lauded fees model, participation by disadvantaged groups at third-level had been static or falling in Australia over the past decade.
It has recommended that, by 2020, 20 per cent of undergraduate enrolment in higher education should be students from low socio-economic backgrounds. To do this, it has recommended that 4 per cent of all funds for teaching be directed into outreach and retention initiatives.
"Current levels of income support are inadequate to support the participation and success of students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Reforms to, and better targeting of, income support should enable such students to attain better qualifications in a more timely fashion, and are urgently required. This will require significant reforms to elements of Australia's welfare and income-support systems," read the report.
It said that 20 years ago, Australia was one of the first countries to restructure to enable wider participation in higher education, and it had become a leader internationally in the movement from elite to mass systems.
But now, there were "clear signs that the quality of the educational experience is declining, the established mechanisms for assuring quality nationally need updating, and student-to-staff ratios are unacceptably high," the report read.
"Analysis of our current performance points to an urgent need for both structural reforms and significant additional investment. In 2020, Australia will not be where we aspire it to be - in the top group of OECD countries in terms of participation and performance - unless we act, and act now."
The report has caused controversy in Australia over the past two months, and many of its recommendations have been savaged by the heads of the "group of eight" universities, which dubbed it a "road map to mediocrity".
The education minister herself has yet to comment on it. She is expected to deliver her verdict next month - the same time as our education minister will be recommending his preferred option to the cabinet.
Fees timeline
1995: third-level fees abolished by Labour education minister Niamh Bhreathnach.
2002: students protest after Fianna Fail education minister Noel Dempsey proposes the reintroduction of fees for those who can afford them.
2003: after disagreement at cabinet level, the plan is scrapped.
2004: the Department of Education says it is examining introducing fees for fourth-year students, suggested by HEA chairman, Dr Don Thornhill. It is examining an Australian-style loan system.
2007: students protest after education minister Batt O'Keeffe reopens the debate on student contributions.
2008: student protests continue as O'Keeffe commissions a report from his department on schemes used across the world. He will make a recommendation on one of the models to cabinet in April.
Ireland's universities running on empty
Ireland believes the government is targeting students as scapegoats to fund deficits that have been allowed to develop by the presidents of the universities.
But the hard reality is that the country's universities are haemorrhaging money, and public funding alone can no longer continue to support them.
All the country's universities have called for a return of some form of student contribution as they struggle to deal with deficits.
At a joint Oireachtas committee meeting last year, the country's university heads gave an insight into their balance sheets, revealing the following level of debts:
* UCD had a cumulative current deficit of €15 million, but no capital deficit.
* UCC had a cumulative deficit of €13 million, and a capital deficit of around €30 million.
* UL was expecting to accumulate a €6 million deficit.
* NUI Maynooth had no current deficit. Projections were for a deficit of over €5 million this year.
* NUI Galway had no cumulative deficit, but this year's projection was for a deficit of €5.2 million.
* DCU had no deficit, although it had some loans for capital projects.
* TCD said it expected to go into deficit in this academic year.
Another expert group established [Education Matters]
- Published: 25 February 2009
Source: Education Matters
A new expert group has been set up to examine how the Department of Education can work with the private sector to improve ICT in the classroom.
The new group, which will report by May, is made up of members of ICT Ireland, the Telecommunications and Internet Federation, the Irish Software Association, the Department of Education and Science and the National Centre for Technology in Education. It will be chaired by Paul Rellis, managing director of Microsoft Ireland.
The group will advise on the use of computers to improve teaching and learning, and explore ways in which private industry could partner with schools in delivering better high-tech classroom equipment.
"As Minister, I attach particular significance to information communications technology (ICT) in the classroom and the need to make computer literacy and high-tech awareness an integral part of the learning process for our young people," Minister O'Keeffe said.
"Over the past number of months, I've met all the major players in the ICT sector as part of my efforts to engage them in a discussion of the role they can play in helping Government to enhance ICT capacity in schools.
"In these more challenging economic times, I'm looking for innovative and cost-effective ways in which we can enhance the classroom experience for students and teachers, including in the area of ICT."
O'Keeffe said his longer-term goal was to increase the take-up of science, engineering and technology courses in third-level institutions in the building of Ireland's "smart economy and innovation island" strategy.
The Republic is currently close to the bottom of OECD tables in relation to ICT facilities in schools, and the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) has said that over half of school computers are unusable. (Source: Irish Times)
Primary schools lose 254 teachers [Irish Independent]
- Published: 25 February 2009
Source: Irish Independent
By Katherine Donnelly
Wednesday February 25 2009
PRIMARY schools are reeling today as the full extent of the teacher job cuts planned for next September hits home.
Individual schools have received details of how the decision to increase the pupil-teacher ratio will affect them.
A total of 382 mainstream classroom posts will disappear -- with some schools losing up to four teachers.
Some 128 schools will gain a teacher, leaving a net drop of 254 -- but that figure does not include other losses arising from the education cutbacks.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) says the figures bear out their analysis that 1,000 jobs will be gone in September.
INTO general secretary John Carr said that in addition to the mainstream teaching posts being lost, up to 500 English language support teachers were being axed, 128 special classes were set to close and nearly 60 social inclusion posts such as home school co-ordinators are to go.
The Department of Education released details of the staffing allocations yesterday "as a first step at improving the level of information in the public domain about changes for the 2009/10 year".
Last year's Budget abruptly reversed a process of gradually reducing class sizes and, for 2009/10, teachers will be allocated to schools on the same basis as in 2006/07.
The number of mainstream class teachers allowed to a school is determined by reference to its enrolment on the previous September 30.
The department's figures include provision for the allocation of up to 350 "developing posts" in schools that expect significantly increased enrolments, typically in rapidly developing communities.
Projections
The teacher allocations for these schools are based on enrolment projections for September 2009, rather than the September 2008 figure, and the final details are still being worked out.
The department said this and other factors, such as the appeals process, meant that the losses/gains list was "provisional".
Mr Carr said that in addition to the 254 mainstream class teaching posts being lost, dozens more schools would not be unable to appoint teachers because of Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe's decision to increase class size.
The pupil population in primary schools is set to increase by about 11,000 next September and Mr Carr said "the minister's cutbacks will result in serious overcrowding in classes".
While many teachers would be redeployed to other schools the main impact would be widespread unemployment for graduate teachers.
The admission of job losses on this scale in primary schools made a complete mockery of Government promises to protect the vulnerable, he said.
Mr Carr accused the minster of trying to massage bad news by calling the announcement provisional.
"Up to now a minimal number of appeals against staffing decisions have been granted by the department while only a handful of schools will be able to retain posts on a temporary basis pending redeployment."
