The Republic's level of spending on education is ranked in the lower third among industrialised economies and has declined since 1990, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, Education At a Glance.
The OECD places the Re public at 20th out of its 29 members in relation to education investment relative to gross domestic product (GDP). While the OECD average spend is 5.1 per cent of GDP, the Republic spends 4.5 per cent. In 1990, the report notes, the Republic allocated 4.7 per cent of GDP.
"In Mexico and Portugal, public expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP increased by over one percentage point over the period 1990 to 1997. By contrast, public expenditure as a percentage of GDP declined in Hungary, Ireland and Italy," says the report.
When private contributions are included, the State invests 5 per cent of GDP in education. The OECD average is 6.1 per cent. Korea, Sweden, the United States and Denmark top the table for investment. The biggest gap in spending comes at upper second level where the Republic's level is half a per cent of GDP below that of the OECD average.
The bulk of spending on education comes from the public purse, and the contribution from private sources is average for most industrialised economies, says the report. While more than 20 per cent of spending at third level comes from private sources, it is considerably smaller at primary and second level.
The report notes the situation in the Republic where central government provides 100 per cent of the public funding, but leaves the decisions about the hiring of teachers to individual schools.
Despite a widespread perception that education is centralised in the Republic, the report notes that a large number of matters relating to curriculum are designed at school level. For example, schools decide on the choice of textbooks, the design of programmes, the selection of programmes and the range of subjects taught. The definition of course content, however, is decided by the Department of Education.
The report focuses on the benefits and public subsidies students and their households can avail of. It shows that grants, scholarships and family allowances are the only public subsidies available from the State here.
This contrasts with states such as Germany, Norway and Britain which offer other forms of benefits. For example, Germany offers specific subsidies towards transport, books and medical expenses. In Britain there are schemes covering transport and medical expenses.