Walk out over proposal to halve the number of VECs

THE Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) has attacked as Thatcherite new proposals to abolish 20 vocational education committees and reduce the involvement of politicians in the remaining committees.

The IVEA, which walked out of a top level meeting held yesterday to consider the proposals, says it will take no further part in the "charade" of rationalising the VECs proposed by the Minister. It accused Ms Breathnach of singling out the vocational sector for "an inquisitional examination that is without precedent in Irish education".

The controversial report recommends the amalgamation of town VECs in Bray, Drogheda, Sligo, Tralee and Wexford with their respective surrounding county VECs. Subsequently, many of the remaining VECs would be merged with committees in adjoining counties, thereby reducing the overall number from the current level of 38 VECs to 18.

The report is the work of a seven member technical working group of the Commission on School Accommodation Needs, which was established by the Minister last March.

It says the size of the enlarged VECs should be increased from 14 to 20 members, with the number of seats for politicians going from the current level of five to eight seats to "a maximum of 10".

Two seats apiece would be reserved for parents, staff, representatives of agriculture/industry and IBEC/ICTU. Arts and community groups would be entitled to nominate one or two people to the committees, which would have to be gender balanced.

The most controversial amalgamations proposed are likely to be those of the VECs in Dublin county and Dun Laoghaire, and Cork county and city. The others are: Wicklow and Kildare; Longford and Westmeath; Laois and Offaly; Clare and Tipperary north riding; Limerick city and county; Cavan and Meath; Louth and Monaghan; Sligo and Leitrim; Waterford city and county and Tipperary south riding; Carlow and Kilkenny; Galway county and city; and Mayo and Roscommon.

The report pays tribute to the work carried out by the VECs since they were set up in 1930, but says the service they provide is expensive, especially in the light of rapidly falling birth rates.

The school going population is set to fall rapidly as a result of a 25 per cent decline in the birth rate in the decade to 1994. The impact on the VEC sector will be more severe, as it has a high proportion of small schools.

Some 36 per cent of vocational schools have fewer than 250 pupils, whereas the percentage of all other second level schools with a pupil total under 250 is only 20 per cent. However, the decline in births is shared unevenly throughout the State. In Dublin city it is only 8 per cent, but 10 counties record falls of more than 30 per cent. Student numbers are set to fall most sharply in Longford, Roscommon and Leitrim, where births have declined by at least 40 per cent.

Twelve VECs operate three or fewer schools and may be forced to close or amalgamate some of these because of the fall in births. Yet all maintain offices and an administrative structure headed by a chief executive.

The proportion each VEC spends on administration varies significantly, between 4.5 and 11.4 per cent the average is 6.3 per cent. The smallest VECs have the highest administrative costs, the report says.

The chairman of the commission, Mr Frank Murray, said there was no evidence that the VECs provided politicians with a "gravy train" for expenses. Travel and maintenance payments to committee members amounted to £685,000 out of £22 million spent on administration, or about £1,300 per member. The overall VEC budget last year was £268 million.

The findings will form the basis for a final report to be drawn up by the commission during the next few weeks. Notwithstanding the absence of the IVEA, some members are likely to press for the retention of more VECs.