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6 February 2012

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Class war – people power rises against education cuts

Fine Gael election manifesto

“Fine Gael will prioritise the frontline and support schools to inspire and equip the next generation with the skills and knowledge needed to rebuild our country’s future.”

 

Labour Party election manifesto

Labour is committed to protecting children’s education, because we believe they deserve the best start their country can give them.”

 

» BY MARK MOLONEY

ANGER at education cuts by the Fine Gael/Labour government is rising as the true scale of December’s slash and burn 2012 Budget starts to bite at the grassroots.

Despite both the Government parties pledging themselves to protect education in their pre-election manifestos, the Coalition Government has ploughed ahead with slashing funding to disadvantaged schools, hiking third-level fees and removing support services.

Completely abandoning his pre-election promises, Labour Education Minister Ruairí Quinn TD slashed funding for third-level education by €23.6million while increasing the third-level registration fee by €250 to €2,250. This came despite Minister Quinn voraciously gobbling up TV and print headlines by baldly signing a pre-election pledge to the Union of Students Ireland in February which bound him to oppose “any new form of third-level fees including student loans, graduate taxes and any further increase in the student contribution”. Student grants were also cut by 3%.

Meanwhile, families, particularly those with schoolchildren in rural areas, have been hit heavily by the primary transport cost per child doubled from €50 to €100 while the maximum payment per family doubled to €220. Capitation grants for schools and adult education courses were cut by 2%, as was core funding for higher education.

The Government has come in for particular criticism over its cuts to the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) scheme. This initiative was designed to ensure that the most disadvantaged schools benefit from a package of supports such as literacy and numeracy schemes, provision of support teachers, a home-school community liaison scheme and other services.

 Cuts announced by Labour Party Education Minister Ruairí Quinn will see 428 teaching posts removed from the most severely disadvantaged schools across the state

The cuts announced by Minister Quinn will see 428 teaching posts removed from the most severely disadvantaged schools across the state. In an attempt to play down the severity of the cuts, Labour described those posts which would be lost as “legacy posts”, meaning a loss of teachers in schools where the pupil-teacher ratio was lower than average. Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald TD, speaking in the Dáil, called on Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore TD not to insult the intelligence of the Dáil or the general public by describing such positions as “legacy posts”.

“There is a reason that these particular schools were allocated a preferential pupil-teacher ratio. All of the documentation reflects the fact that this size of class is working for children who need a greater level of support,” she said

In an attempt to halt the cuts to disadvantaged schools , Sinn Féin put forward a Private Member’s Bill before the Dáil on Wednesday 11 January calling on the Government to reverse the cuts to DEIS schools. The PMB was defeated by 85 votes to 43 but, only hours later, on the RTÉ Radio Morning Ireland show, Minister Quinn admitted that his department had “made mistakes” and said that he would ‘review’ the cuts.

 

Minister must learn from protests

BY SEÁN CROWE TD

Sinn Féin Dáil spokesperson on Education

WHEN I ASKED Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn in the Dáil what the terms of reference were for the review, how many of the 428 pre-DEIS legacy posts were at risk and how an increase in the pupil/teacher ratio would impact on class sizes in individual schools, the answers I received were vague and certainly unconvincing.

There is still a good deal of confusion around what the review hopes to achieve and Minister Quinn has done little to allay these concerns. It is very important that this review is completed within its timeframe and the findings published in a clear and concise way.

Principals, parents and students are looking for answers. If this is going to be nothing more than a number-crunching exercise then it will be rightly labelled as a cynical ploy, the purpose of which is to undermine the widespread opposition to these cuts.

It is clear that even if the Education Minister reverses the cuts to DEIS schools, he is still determined to cut primary school services. This is unacceptable and Sinn Féin will stand alongside those who are rightly appalled at what is happening. We will not accept anything less than the full reversal of the cuts to schools that were proposed in December’s Budget.

 

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