Sir, – Carl O’Brien rightfully draws attention to the pressure many parents feel under with back to school costs (News, August 12th). No one could disagree that more must be done to try to keep costs down.
Laying the blame, however, at schools who ask for voluntary contributions is misdirected and unfair. For many schools, the need for voluntary contributions is simple: they are not paid enough to meet their day-to-day expenses.
The OECD report Education at a Glance 2022 once again ranked Ireland in last place out of 36 countries for investment in second-level education as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). In 2019, the year analysed in the OECD report, Ireland invested 1 per cent of GDP in second-level education compared to the OECD and EU averages of 1.9 per cent.
In addition, voluntary secondary schools receive a significantly lower proportion of funding from the State and, as a result, are more reliant on voluntary contributions and fundraising. Despite this, nothing has been done to address the inequitable funding of schools in the voluntary secondary sector with the equalisation process, already conceded by Government, still not initiated.
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Selective quoting of the Education Act 1998 by the Minister for Education on how fees can’t be charged for the provision of education under the curriculum, as a response to the issue, doesn’t quite cut the mustard. Indeed if we were to go down the path of quoting from the Act, questions can be raised about the performance of successive ministers in relation to their primary function of ensuring that “there is made available to each person resident in the State, including a person with a disability or who has other special educational needs, support services and a level and quality of education appropriate to meeting the needs and abilities of that person”.
We do, however, wish the Minister well in her pre-budget negotiations with her Government colleagues in trying to secure additional funds for education. What we need is a package to eliminate the need for schools to seek voluntary contributions from families, a measure which would immediately and significantly alleviate the pressures on all concerned.
Parents have, for years, paid for books, voluntary contributions, charges and fundraising in order to help schools keep their heads above water. Absent from the debate on the issue recently has been any expression of gratitude and appreciation to parents for their support. We do not underestimate their contribution and we sincerely thank them. – Yours, etc,
JOHN McHUGH,
Principal,
Ardscoil Rís,
Dublin 9.