EDUCATION:STUDENTS WILL be liable for a new fee of €2,000 from next September, an increase of 33 per cent.
The new student contribution fee replaces the registration charge. Second and subsequent siblings will pay €1,500.
New arrangements where students can pay 50 per cent of the new fee in September and the balance in January are being examined by the colleges.
Last night, Gary Redmond, president of the Union of Students in Ireland labelled the Budget the “Pearl Harbour of Irish education”.
The Government’s decision to increase college fees was a retrograde step for Irish education, which will, he said, deny thousands of students access to a third-level education.
Overall, the cuts in the education budget are relatively modest, with a reduction of 2 per cent in the overall allocation of close to €9 billion.
Other key measures include:
- With effect from the 2011/2012 school year, a transport fee of €50 per annum will be introduced for primary school pupils, with a maximum family charge of €110.
- The annual charge for post-primary pupils will be increased from €300 to €350.
- The combined maximum overall family charge will remain at €650.
- An average 5 per cent reduction in funding grants to schools and VECs, including grants for adult literacy, community education, the School Completion Programme and Youthreach.
- The 2011 allocation for teacher salaries of almost €3.85 billion takes account of €24 million in savings (rising to €98 million in 2014) to be achieved by reducing teacher numbers through a combination of measures.
This will lead to a deferral of 150 extra posts and to a reduction of up to approximately 1,200 posts from September 2011 (approximately 700 primary and 500 post-primary posts) which, however, will be partly offset by the addition of an estimated 875 new posts due to demographics.
Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan said the Budget recognised the critical role of the education and skills sector in Ireland’s future prospects.
She said that while difficult choices had to be made to identify savings across her department’s remit, the Government had gone as far as it could to protect frontline education services in 2011.
The INTO said the Budget landed the bill for the bank bailout firmly on the backs of ordinary men women and children.
“Nothing and no one has been spared,” said INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan.
“The cost of bailing out the banks has been spread from the cradle to the grave.”
Pat King of the ASTI said the future for new teachers in terms of job opportunities was even bleaker as a result of Budget 2011.
“Approximately 95 per cent of newly qualified second-level teachers spend an average of seven years in part-time and temporary teaching positions before attaining a full-time, secure position,” he said.
“The axing of more teaching jobs, as outlined in the Budget statement, will mean there will be even fewer opportunities for our bright young teachers.”
“The absence of any initiatives in the Budget to develop third-level education as a vehicle for our future economic recovery will have a major impact on third-level entry and facilities,” said Mike Jennings, general secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers.
It will, he said, exacerbate the trend towards forced emigration among a generation of our young people.
