Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

“That Dáil Éireann:

affirms that the right to education is an internationally recognised human right, enshrined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, reaffirmed by the 1960 UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education, Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;

notes that the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 pledges to "cherish all the children of the nation equally"' and recognises their right to a decent education;

notes that access to education provisions in internationally recognised human rights law include the obligation to eliminate discrimination at all levels of the education system;

recognises that Article 42 of the Constitution of Ireland commits the State to ensuring children receive a certain minimum education;

notes that the commitment to ensuring a citizen's right to education has been undermined by the failure of successive governments to adequately invest in education and that even during the height of the Celtic tiger the 2007 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's annual Education at a Glance survey reported that the State was spending 4.7% of its income on education compared to an OECD average for that year of 5.7%, while current spending on third level education in Ireland amounts to 1.2% of GDP compared to the OECD average of 1.5%;

notes that, since coming to power in 2011, the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government has continued the slash and burn policies of their Fianna Fáil-Green Party predecessors through the implementation of successive cuts to the State's education system that resulted in an adjustment of €132.3 million in 2012 and €77 million in 2013, with further cuts to come in October 2014, which are expected to be as high as €100 million; and the punitive cuts to education are being made when the school population is projected to rise significantly over the next decade and at a time when the Government has imposed an Employment Control Framework that limits the numbers who can be employed in the education sector;

deplores the current class sizes of primary schools in Ireland which average 26 pupils per teacher, the second largest in the EU, and that a further increase in the pupil-teacher ratio, PTR, would mean 30 plus class sizes in many primary schools;

acknowledges that the State's failure to invest properly in education has resulted in a significant decline in literacy and numeracy rates in Irish schools, as reflected in tests carried out by the OECD between 2000 and 2009 which saw a fall from 15th to 25th in maths and from 5th to 17th in reading;

believes that, during a recession, it is important to prioritise and ring-fence funding for education in order to produce a highly skilled and flexible workforce that is necessary for our future economic growth and prosperity;

challenges Government's policies that target higher and further education and greatly undermine the objective of incentivising people from up-skilling and re-training in order to enhance their employment prospects;

recognises that the millions cut from the education budget will greatly impact on the implementation of progressive measures such as the reform of the junior certificate cycle and improving literacy and numeracy standards that are essential for improving standards in Irish schools;

recognises that instead of guaranteeing equal access to the highest standard of education, current Government policy has entrenched educational inequalities and a two-tier system;

acknowledges that more than one in four primary school pupils are being taught in overcrowded classrooms and many are taught in run-down facilities;

further acknowledges that almost one quarter of children of working-class parents do not sit the leaving certificate and the numbers leaving school without qualifications have remained unchanged since the 1990s, and an estimated 1,000 students per year cannot even make the transition from primary to secondary education;

notes that approximately one quarter of the adult population have literacy and numeracy problems while taxpayers pay €80 million per annum to subsidise the private education system, even though the children of the majority will never have a chance to attend these exclusive fee-paying schools;

acknowledges that teachers who are proficient in the Irish language play an essential role in helping to ensure the future viability of our native tongue as a vibrant, working, living language;

further acknowledges that Gaelscoileanna are struggling because of changes to staffing schedules as well as the ending of the preferential PTR and that this is likely to lead to the forced closure of many Irish language schools; and agrees that back to school costs for parents are unacceptably high;

calls on the Government to set out a timetable to:

-- adopt a similar strategic approach to that taken by Northern Ireland's Education Minister, John O'Dowd, who has redirected almost £400 million back into schools that has led to a rise in standards which have been recognised by the findings of the TIMMS and PIRLS, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and Progress in International Reading Literacy, that showed primary schools in Northern Ireland are world leaders in terms of literacy and numeracy - a trend that has also been matched by encouraging improvements in the post-primary sector;

-- reverse the loss of an estimated 700 plus career guidance counsellors in second level schools resulting from the decision in budget 2013 not to provide these posts on an ex-quota basis that will seriously reduce the level of support for children experiencing a range of emotional and learning difficulties;

-- ring-fence funding for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools bands 1 and 2 schools; increase the number of teaching resource hours and bring to an end the cap on special needs assistants in order to match the needs of a rising school population and break the cycle of deprivation, marginalisation and educational disadvantage through the promotion of fairness and equality;

-- reverse the decision to increase the PTR from 17:1 to 19:1 for post leaving certificate programmes which unfairly impacts on marginalised learners and the loss of an estimated 400 teachers with expertise in specialised subjects who will be impossible to replace in the further education and training sector;

-- reinstate resource teachers and supports for Traveller children to pre-2011 levels;

-- reverse the cut to the back to education allowance which will further compound and restrict student opportunities to access further education and will act as a barrier to creating job opportunities for the unemployed;

-- introduce mandatory regulations that will ensure parents have greater choice when buying school uniforms and paying for school text books; and

-- place on a statutory footing the voluntary code of practice to regulate the printers responsible for producing school text books; and

further calls on the Government to:

-- make a commitment not to increase the PTR in the State's primary and secondary school sector;

-- ensure that, before their proposed budget cuts to the education sector are implemented, a comprehensive equality and social impact study is undertaken to first determine the implications for teachers and students;

-- increase supports for Irish language learning and ensure Gaeltacht schools retain a preferential PTR in recognition of the challenges of teaching in Irish medium schools;

-- publish a timetable for the delivery and construction of school buildings and other educational facilities and bring an end to the use of prefab buildings with at least a minimum of 150 school building projects to enter the architectural and planning stage each year so that schools are ready to proceed as quickly as possible to the construction phases;

-- protect the maintenance grant and end the annual increase to student contribution fees;

-- increase resources for adult literacy, and deliver a progressive national strategy on lifelong and work-based learning focused at those most in need of training, re-training and up-skilling;

-- spend at least 6% of GDP on education, in keeping with best international practice;

-- set a target to eliminate the need for the subsidy of educational provisions by charitable organisations, in the form of school books and school breakfasts and lunches, and ensure that every child can avail of a book rental scheme and free school meals;

-- immediately extend the early start pre-school project to all schools with pupils from disadvantaged areas, with a maximum child to adult ratio of 12:1;

-- introduce a universal pre-school session of 3.5 hours per day, five days a week for all children aged 3 to 5 years;

-- invest towards implementation of a PTR of 15:1 in all post-primary schools and immediately reduce all class sizes for children under nine years of age to a maximum of 20 pupils;

-- invest to progressively reduce class sizes at post-primary level;

-- keep funding for schools fully public and under democratic control;

-- ensure adequate provision of special needs assistants where required;

-- set targets to increase the number of students in further and higher education, especially part-time and adult students and other groups, including people with disabilities and Travellers, and provide third level access programmes for schools with a low take-up of places;

-- provide adequate financial assistance and support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete their courses;

-- establish a book lending scheme across all primary and secondary schools; and

-- end the system where schools are reliant on voluntary contributions from parents by raising the capitation grants to cover the real cost of running a school.”

Last night I attended a meeting in Cork on the subject of cuts in education, organised by the INTO and the National Parents Council. Understandably, there has been much media attention lately concerning potential or proposed increases in the pupil teacher ratio, PTR, at primary level, which was of great concern to everybody who attended last night. At the meeting there were Deputies from all sides of the Chamber who heard at first hand from teachers, principals and parents about the difficulties and challenges being faced by everybody involved in the education sector.

I am sure the Minister will understand the level of anger and frustration which was palpable in that room last night in regard to some of the media coverage about the proposed PTR increases that has been aired both in print media and on the airwaves. Much of that anger was directed, not only at the present Minister, but at the successive governments that, in the opinion of those teachers and principals who are working within the education system, failed to invest in education . One of the most common questions that kept coming up in all contributions, whether from the top floor, from members of the INTO, parents or from concerned members of the public, was why this is happening. Why are children being targeted for cuts? Why are they being asked to pay for the economic failings of this State and of previous governments, bankers, bondholders and such like? That was the recurring theme in all the contributions made last night.

The answer many are now coming to form on their own is that this Government has decided that children must pay towards the economic recovery of this State, and because of policy decisions being taken by this Minister in respect of education, children must take some of the burden of responsibility in the regaining of economic sovereignty. Of course that does not go down well with people because children did not create the economic crisis and should therefore not be held responsible. They should not have to pay for the failings of others.

Government Deputies will say that answer is simplistic in nature and shows a lack of understanding of the economic challenges facing us.

On the contrary, the Minister can understand why people come to that conclusion when we look at some of the decisions taken by this Department in recent years. There were budget cuts of €132 million in 2012, followed by €77 million last year, and if we are to believe media reports, up to €100 million this year. We do not have the exact figure this year because of the changes in the timing of the budget, and I understand that, but we are certainly looking at in excess of €70 million again this year and possibly up to €100 million. If we take the upper level of that estimate, in the region of €300 million will have been taken out of education over the last three years. The Government's amendment to the motion states that it has protected front-line services. I do not think that if €300 million is taken out of education it can be stated categorically that front-line services have been protected. It is just not possible and I think the Minister knows that.

Many of the cuts which have been announced since the Minister came into office were in DEIS, and the Government's amended motion refers to the advantages of having DEIS posts, which makes the Minister's decision in the first budget all the more bewildering, when he targeted DEIS. Of course, he reversed that decision but we had cuts in further education last year and we are seeing cuts to capitation, increases in PTR and the minor works grant has been scrapped. All of these are having significant impact on the provision of education at a local, regional and State level. They cannot continue to be implemented at that rate. All of this comes at a time when our class sizes are already the second highest in the EU. One school in my county of Cork has 41 pupils in one class. There is no way that a class of 41 pupils will get the type of education that is needed. It is just too many pupils for one teacher. Within that class of 41 teachers, there will be a wide spectrum of ability among the student population, so it is unfair on the teacher to try to teach 41 students.

The cuts in education are not just the preserve of this Government. We have seen what the previous Administration thought of education and we can see in its amendment the priority it affords education. It put in a two-line amendment. During the boom time of the Celtic tiger era, we were spending less of our GDP on education than the OECD average. That is the type of low base from which we are trying to come. I am the first to admit that there are huge challenges facing the Minister, the Government and society in general when it comes to education. The way to answer that challenge is not to cut the education budget, but to protect it. I know people will say that this cannot be done, but it can be done, it must be done and we have shown in our alternative budget last year and this year how it can be done. We may differ on how to achieve that, but it can be done. If we look at international best practice we see that when countries like Finland were in recession, not only did they protect their education budget, they increased investment in education and they are now reaping the benefits of that. This can be done and it must be done.

There are major challenges and we have outlined some of them tonight. One in four people in this State have numeracy and literacy problems. Students are being taught in classes in excess of 30 pupils, and I already cited a case in Cork of a class in excess of 40 pupils. I will be the first to recognise that there have been some progressive measures coming from the Department in education, such as junior cycle reform and the creation of SOLAS, but all of these progressive measure are under threat of not being implemented due to the continuation of cuts in education. The Minister cannot bring in reforming measures and then cut budgets which are needed to implement those reforms.

There will be much focus over the next two nights on the fact that Sinn Féin is in government in the North and we have a Minister for Education. Before Members in other parties criticise our record in the Six Counties, I would like mention some of the initiatives which the Minister, John O'Dowd MLA, has put in place for education. In this State the Minister is cutting investment in education, but under a Sinn Féin Minister in the North, we have actually redirected almost €400 million back into education. We have increased the number of teachers working with students with learning difficulties. All of this is bringing success and a recent report showed that students in the Six Counties finish top of the class. I know there was some improvement in the levels of literacy and numeracy in this State, but it shows that with a bit of political will, financial input, foresight and long-term planning, a lot can be achieved. One of my biggest criticisms of this Government is its lack of long-term planning. There is some planning on junior cycle reform, but all of that has been undermined by the lack of investment. If we are serious about creating an education system that is fit for purpose, we have to make a decision to protect our education budgets.

Over the next couple of nights, Members will come in here and say that we are in tough economic times and there are hard decisions to be made that they do not like to make, but they will make them in the best interests of the State. Cutting education is not a hard decision. There is no such thing as a hard or easy decision. There is only a right and wrong decision. Cutting education budgets and denying children the best possible opportunity to attain their own personal academic potential is not a hard decision. It is simply the wrong decision and I ask the Minister to reconsider any proposed cuts in education in the upcoming budget.

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