An insider’s guide to education

- Just back fromthat trade mission to the US, Minister for Education Mary Coughlan and secretary general Brigid McManus are now working to identify those spending cuts ahead of the December budget.

But their room for manoeuvre is severely restricted. For one, close to 80 per cent of the €9 billion in current education spending is absorbed by pay and pensions.

So what’s left? From an accounting perspective, the easiest way of achieving major savings is by increasing class size and reducing payroll costs. But this was vetoed by the Greens in the Revised Programme for Government with Fianna Fáil.

Student tuition charges can be ruled out for the same reason – although an increase in the €1,500 student registration charge is still possible.

The Department wants to avoid a repeat of the situation two years ago when cuts against the disadvantaged and Travellers provoked an outcry – and achieved little in the way of savings.

Any move to cut back on special needs in December would unleash a similar political storm. But the Department has already signalled its readiness to cut the number of special needs assistants – will it dare follow through?

The Department should (at last) get around to cutting the number of Vocational Education Committees from 33 to about 21 – although even this will achieve little in immediate savings.

The Bord Snip Nua or McCarthy report also proposed a culling of the numerous education quangos; the Department views many of these as an expensive luxury we can no longer afford. But is Mary Coughlan ready to wield the axe?

The ongoing debateabout the working hours of academic staff in third-level colleges has provoked a huge number of emails to this column. In response to requests from readers, the following are the key exchanges on the issue at the recent Dáil Public Accounts Committee meeting.

In this section, Róisín Shortall of Labour takes issue with information provided by UCC president, Michael Murphy.

Deputy Shortall:It is not adequate just to review and to report back to us. There should be a minimum expectation on staff. Dr Murphy said he found that staff (in UCC) had 180 contact hours.

Professor John Hughes (NUI Maynooth):The reported average figure for the institution was 180 contact hours.

Róisín Shortall: Over how many weeks?

Dr Michael Murphy:That is over the teaching year.

Róisín Shortall:Say 30 weeks. Would that be . . . (Comment interrupted)

Dr Michael Murphy:For us that is 24 weeks plus . . . (Comment interrupted)

Róisín Shortall:Some 30 weeks. That is six hours per week.

Got any education gossip? Email to teacherspet@irishtimes.com