Education issues dominated the weekend negotiations on the renewed Programme for Government. But has the Green Party exaggerated its success on the issue?
With the Green Party portraying itself as the “party for education”, it was no surprise the issue dominated discussions on the new Programme for Government.
At one stage on Friday, it appeared that a dispute over reversing Budget increases in class size could be a deal breaker. But this hurdle was cleared after discussions with the Department of Finance and the teaching unions. The INTO, in particular, was in constant contact with the Green Party negotiating team.
The deal, which emerged late on Friday, included three key elements on education. Of these, the most eye-catching was the commitment to abandon plans for third-level fees.
There was also a commitment to employ 500 new teachers over three years at a gross cost of €30 million
The other main elements was an agreement to rescind some Budget cutbacks in book grants – costing €6 million – and to restore €5.35 million in support for various second-level programmes including the Leaving Cert Applied and Transition Year.
All day yesterday, the Greens were showered with praise by the teacher unions, the school management bodies and the Union of Students in Ireland. The INTO’s John Carr congratulated the Green Party negotiating team on their success.
But others say the scale of the Green “victory” been exaggerated. Fine Gael’s Education spokesman Brian Hayes claimed the Greens have reversed just one of 32 cutbacks announced in last year’s Budget.
Hayes was even more scathing on the issue of third-level fees. He maintains the reintroduction of college fees was never seriously on the political agenda.
“To claim credit for it now personifies the Green Party as a cynical and discredited political entity,” he said.
So how do claim and counter claim stack-up on the key education issues?
THIRD LEVEL FEES
The renewed programme says: “this Government will not proceed with any scheme of student contribution for third-level education.”
But media coverage of this concession focused on the wider Green Party claim that the party had forced Fianna Fáil ministers to abandon plans for third-level fees.
But were fees ever seriously on the agenda?
The re-introduction of college fees is one of five options considered in the 110-page report submitted by Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe to the Cabinet in July.
But the Minister has made no secret of his preferred option – a new system of “study now, pay later” student loans.
The report – detailed in The Irish Timesin July – envisaged college graduates repaying a debt of at least €21,000 under a proposed loan scheme. At the time, the plan was cautiously welcomed by Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan.
O’Keeffe had expected Cabinet colleagues to endorse the loan proposal later this month. The plan was that the system would be introduced for all new students (and for those who registered last month) in September 2010.
But it would be 2014, at the earliest, before any fee income flowed to the colleges. The Minister also hoped to absorb the current €1,500 college registration charge into the student loan.
On RTÉ radio's Saturday Viewthis weekend, the Green Party leader, John Gormley, claimed success for thwarting an attempt by Fianna Fáil ministers to bring back fees. He pointed to intense media speculation over recent months suggesting that fees were set to return.
But, a cursory trawl through the newspaper archives reveals that this speculation focused on the operation of a student loan system. There was no discussion on the return of fees.
The Green Party is also vulnerable to the charge that it has given succour to its middle class constituency while glossing over wider questions about equality in higher education and the future funding of a key sector.
The O’Keeffe plan was that some funding from the new loan scheme would be diverted to boost access programmes. And there is much to be done. The Green Party claimed that free fees would help to widen access, but there is little definitive evidence to sustain this.
The most recent access report from the Higher Education Authority noted that not one student entering university courses in pharmacy or medicine in 2008/2009 came from an unskilled background.
And who benefits from free fees? The Department of Finance says 15 per cent of students in receipt of free fees come from households with income in excess of €100,000 per annum.
There is also the wider question of future funding for an underfunded higher education sector where UCD and UCC alone have cumulative debts of more than €20 million, and where support per student is below the OECD average.
On RTÉ's Morning Irelandyesterday, Minister O'Keeffe said that the issue of student contributions has not gone away. Indeed, it is expected that the forthcoming National Strategy for Higher Education will back a student loan scheme when it reports before the end of the year.
The Green deal is also likely to see an increase in student registration charges next autumn, as colleges struggle with the impact of Government cost-cutting.
Across the higher education sector yesterday, there was widespread dismay with the weekend developments on student charges.
One senior figure said: “We keep on hearing about the key importance of higher education to the economy. But when will we get a proper funding mechanism? We are being messed around.”
CLASS SIZE
The Green party failed to roll back the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools from 1:27 instead of the 1:28 figure set in the Budget.
But the commitment to 500 new teachers does represent real progress. Many of these posts will be in schools worst affected by the Budget changes.
Critically, the agreement provides for no further increase in the pupil-teacher ratio in primary and second-level schools for the lifetime of this Government.
The McCarthy Report had proposed further increases in staff size at both primary and second level.
Significantly, this approach was also backed by the Department of Finance in its submission to McCarthy.
It said: “Given the pressure that there is likely to be on the public finances for the foreseeable future, it may be necessary to allow average class size to increase even further than this, by further increasing the staffing schedule at primary level. Each one point increase in the staffing schedule should result in a saving of about €30 million in a full year (with about €10 million accruing in the year the change is made). This is equivalent to a reduction of about 650 teachers.”
Fine Gael pointed out that the 500 new teachers had to be set against the 800 posts which will go unfilled.
But the teacher unions are accentuating the positive, believing that the Greens have reversed a progressive increase in class size.
The INTO say the agreement has also cleared up uncertainty about how the system could cope with additional enrolment of about 10,000 pupils a year at primary level. When special-needs allocations are added, the union says the agreement probably means at least 600 additional teachers will be appointed each September for the next three years.
The second-level unions, which fought a strong rearguard action to ensure their sector was not overlooked in the negotiations, have also welcomed the agreement. The 500 new teachers will be allocated across both primary and second level.
By any measure, the commitments on class size appear to represent a negotiating triumph for the Greens.
OTHER CHANGES
The Programme for Government also provides for a fixing of capitation grants at current levels.
The McCarthy Report proposed a 10 per cent cut in this funding next year and the year after. This proposed cut will not be implemented.
Other grants which were cut in last October’s Budget, such as the free books grant will be reinstated at a cost of €6 million
Vital education grants for the Leaving Certificate Applied, Leaving Certificate Vocational, Transition Year and Junior Certificate schools programmes are also to be restored.
The Greens have won plaudits across the education sector for their success in these areas – even though the savings involved are very low.
A LEARNING NATION: THE PROGRAMME FOR GOVERNMENT
NO FEES:"This Government will not proceed with any new scheme of student contribution for third-level education"
MORE MONEY:Funding for 28 additional school psychologists
NO INCREASES:"No further increase in the pupil-teacher ratio in primary and second-level schools for the lifetime of this Government"
MORE TEACHERS:500 new teaching posts over the next three years
MORE GRANTS:Standard capitation grants to be maintained, with an extra allocation for grant assistance for books
MORE MERGERS AT THIRD LEVEL:Examination of potential for greater co-operation and/or amalgamations between third-level institutions.
