Report commissioned by private schools claims they save taxpayer money

A report commissioned by 27 private schools has claimed that the cost to the taxpayer of educating students in non-fee paying schools is almost twice that of fee-paying schools.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which was commissioned in 2011 and has been seen by The Irish Times , puts the average cost to the State of educating a student at €7,764.

It calculates the figures after combining the State costs of running secondary schools with the costs of the further education sector.

Based on a total of 342,312 students in secondary school and further education programmes, the PwC report says that the total cost to the taxpayer of a student in a non-fee paying school is €8,035, compared to €4,552 in a fee paying school, a difference of €3,485.

The PwC figures are at variance with figures released by the Department of Education and Skills. It says that the average cost to the Exchequer of a student in a non-fee paying school is €4,007, compared to €3,048 in a fee-paying school, a difference of €959 per pupil.

John MacGabhann, General Secretary of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), said the PwC report’s figures were skewed by the inclusion of spending on the further education sector.

“They have conflated different spending streams that have nothing to do with secondary schools and, in doing so, have grossly exaggerated the cost of second-level education spending,” he said.

“The report shows a lack of awareness of what the further education sector – which includes Post Leaving Certificate courses, Vocational Training and Opportunities Schemes (VTOS), Traveller training, adult and community education, outdoor education centres, youth services, and more – actually does.”

Ferdia Kelly, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body, which represents the management of 400 fee-paying and non-fee paying schools, said it was confident the report was accurate.

However, a spokesperson for the Department said it stood over its own analysis, which was released last month.