Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Flanagan for introducing this Bill. It is important we discuss education. I had the privilege and pleasure of spending 16 years in a classroom, teaching both adults and young people, so I understand the importance of education. It is a right, not a privilege, and an entitlement of all our citizens, urban and rural.

Education is not just about the fabric of a classroom or the built environment, nor is it about the number of teachers in the staffroom or number of pupils in the classroom. It is about the whole school community, from the parent at home to the educational welfare officer, the teacher, the student, the Government and us as legislators. Education is about imparting knowledge, the accumulation of skills, learning new social skills and interacting with young people. It is also about adults imparting values and instilling responsibility. In the Visitors Gallery are young people on their summer holidays. Alas, the weather is not very good but I ask those young people to focus on the meaning of education. What do we as legislators have to do?

We must remember, no matter what our political persuasion or whether we are urban or rural, that this debate is about the type of education model we want to see at primary and post-primary. Those of us who attended the CSO presentation learned that we as a country do not stand still. We evolve and change, and the needs of our education system have changed accordingly. We must always appraise to ensure we have a system that is fit for purpose and that has structures and procedures that will meet the future needs of our students.

That is why reform is necessary. It is why this Government is changing the political landscape in education and challenging people by forcing them to recognise there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and that the pupil-teacher ratio will not change, although we would like it to. That reality must be faced up to by everyone. Some refuse to accept it but if we have the interests of children, of curriculum reform and the imparting of knowledge at heart, then Bills like this one serve no purpose other than to rally the troops, create political noise and look and sound good.

It also challenges the vested interests, the Minister and Deputies in this House. What education model do we want to impart to the young people in the Visitors Gallery? Is it all about funding and keeping schools open? Are we so blind as to look at that as the only thing we want to do, to keep school X and close school Y? It is not. We must always strive to improve our education system, especially when we do not have the resources that were available ten to 14 years ago.

I saw the money that was put into education. I was a classroom teacher and I trained teams and supervised classes. I did not do it for remuneration but because I loved the games I was coaching and I wanted to educate myself about the needs and aspirations of the students I was teaching.

Benchmarking was the biggest mistake we made as a country. I will conclude on this point; if the motion is just about rural schools then it is wrong because falling numbers affect cities. The census for Cork city has shown a fall in the population in successive years. Cork city has the oldest mean age in the country and the consequence of that is being experienced by city schools in terms of the numbers enrolling. That issue must be addressed as well. The motion must be about the education system, not just the small, narrow prism of school buildings.

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