Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I commend Deputy Smith on proposing this motion and I would like to see the student at the centre of the debate on education. I call on the Minister to protect the most vulnerable in primary education, particularly to continue the supports in the classroom, including support for special needs. We all agree that much more needs to be done. I would like to see more understanding and a greater importance given to the role of small schools. There does not seem to be any education policy other than amalgamations and closures and this is not good enough. Rural communities are very concerned that increased class sizes will result from forced amalgamations of rural schools. Rural schools are institutions like the Garda station and post office and are part of the nucleus of rural life. If we are to improve literacy and numeracy, as the Minister said he is committed to doing, we should retain our current class sizes and devote more resources to primary education. The reality is that small schools have been singled out for the bulk of education cuts in this budget. Schools that are already marginalised will lose teachers from September. Although there is a need to make savings, people cannot understand why the savings have a disproportionate burden on rural communities.

Where will the money come from for the new school buildings if there are to be school closures and amalgamations? Where will the money be found for school transport when savings have been made in recent years in school transport? The school transport charges doubled from €50 to €100 and the primary family payment doubled to €220. These measures will have a major impact on families.

The staffing schedule has been referred to by many Deputies. Why is it based on September 2011? A member of the board of management at St. Gabriel's national school, Kilconnell, told me there are two children more in the school than last September. In Castlehackett, County Galway, there were 49 pupils in September and there will be 51 in September 2012. People are asking why they cannot retain a third mainstream teacher in the best interests of the pupils.

Another issue concerns the decoupling of learning support and resource teaching. Where the posts are amalgamated, unnecessary travel expenses are eliminated and wholetime teaching positions are created rather than having two teachers running between schools on a part-time basis. In a typical three-teacher school in County Galway, the general allocation gives them 0.8 of a full-time position for teaching support. The teacher must find five hours in another school. There are six and a half extra hours of resource teaching in the school and a visiting teacher must come in. These are ridiculous proposals and I hope the Minister will examine them. When the INTO made a submission last March, it pointed out this issue, along with the issue of minority faith schools and smaller Gaeltacht schools. Tá sé le feiceáil go soléir go bhfuil dul chun cinn na Gaeilge bainte amach ag scoileanna beaga agus nach mbeadh an Ghaeilge comh láidir i gceantair gan na scoileanna beaga.

Small primary schools have enriched our society for many centuries and should be maintained and fostered. I would like the Minister to examine the overall budget, not just the primary education budget. The Minister's backbenchers say that primary education is the Cinderella of education. The Minister should examine the budget and reverse the cuts.

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