Seanad debates

Wednesday, 7 March 2007

Education System: Motion (Resumed)

 

6:00 pm

Photo of Brendan RyanBrendan Ryan (Labour)

Cuirim fáilte speisialta roimh an Aire Stáit atá sa suíochán sin den chéad uair. The Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, is welcome. It is the first time I have seen him in that seat.

Whenever we discuss education we should first acknowledge how fortunate we are in the quality of our teachers. Many of the populist phone-in shows focus on bad teachers. Of course, no profession is without problems and perhaps the process for dealing with a bad teacher is extremely cumbersome. However, the majority of teachers are superb.

It is well known that old fellows, including myself, will, if let, moan about the younger generation. In fact, all older teachers I have spoken to, especially in the primary sector, have nothing but praise for the quality of young new national teachers. It is an astonishing reversal of the usual practice whereby older people tend to complain that the young people are not interested. The enthusiasm of new teachers in schools of various sizes to do new things, change things and broaden their teaching is wonderful.

Another issue is the impression that is given that our schools work for a small number of hours and weeks. One of today's newspapers — I cannot remember whether it was the Irish Examiner or The Irish Times — carried an interview with a 17 year old German girl, who is spending a year in Castleisland, County Kerry. She was asked what was different about Ireland. She said that the length of the school day was striking. We have all heard about the hard-working Germans but she said that in Germany, she went to school at 8 a.m. but finished at 12.30 p.m. The 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. school day was a real shock for her. Let us not do silly sums about the school year and utter silly talk about teachers' holidays. The evidence is that, overall, the number of hours an Irish teacher spends in contact with a pupil is among the highest in the developed world. Perhaps the school day is too long or the academic day should be shorter with more time allocated for sport and so forth.

The real issue before us is whether significantly more could have been achieved in the last ten years. Undoubtedly, the answer is "Yes". I do not dispute that a great deal is being done now. However, according to the Minister's figures, in 1997, there were 190,000 pupils in classes of more than 30; now the number is 110,000. That is a reduction but given that, as the Taoiseach said, this country achieved a level of economic growth in ten years that most countries barely managed in 30, it would have been a reasonable aspiration effectively to have got rid of that problem. It is disappointing, to put it mildly, that it still exists.

The same applies in other areas. Sometimes economists get into a tizzy about the fact that public expenditure will drive up prices. There is a limitless world supply of information technology equipment of declining price. One in five school computers, or 20%, is more than six years old. In computer terms that means they are probably using not XP or Windows 2000 but Windows 98 which cannot use half the software schoolchildren should be using. There is no reason for every computer in every primary school not being replaced, as a matter of budgetary planning, every two or three years. However, there is an unwillingness to make that financial commitment on a continuing basis. Schools should be able routinely to replace their computers every three years. It should be built into the funding of the schools and it is extraordinary that it is not.

What proportion of our primary schools still do not have access to broadband? Access to broadband is essential to make serious use of information and communications technology in a school. It is ridiculously expensive and painfully slow, if not impossible, to use them otherwise with a group of pupils.

There should not be any bad quality classrooms or school buildings in the primary school system. As soon as money became available, there should have been an aspiration to get rid of all the poor quality buildings. However, a bigger problem is arising with regard to planning. Senator Brian Hayes referred to it and it is troubling. Adamstown is the single spectacular exception and I accept that in South Dublin County Council, similar plans are being made.

Throughout the country villages on the periphery of middle-sized towns are expanding dramatically. There are huge housing estates and despite what some people in these villages think, I believe that is a great sign. Small communities are coming alive. However, there is no sign that anybody in the Department of Education and Science is planning for the inevitable fact that if 500 houses are built in, for example, Watergrasshill, within four or five years between 500 and 1,000 children will be born there. There is a certain inevitability to that which does not require elaboration.

If houses are being built, the obvious conclusion is that more or larger schools will be required. However, every September crises of such a scale arise that they are featured in the newspapers. Other crises of a smaller scale result in extra prefabs or rooms being added to schools. That is the problem with planning. I considered, more in jest than otherwise, complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority during the last census campaign. We were told that the census data were needed so we could plan for the needs of children in the future. That was the most misleading advertising I have seen in years because we do not plan. I do not believe the Department of Education and Science reads the census figures other than to see what happened a number of years ago. I do not believe there is any serious effort on the part of the Department of Education and Science to plan for the growing populations of our villages and towns.

I support the motion not because a great deal has not happened — much has improved — but because a wonderful education system and its personnel have been let down by the failure to use unprecedented wealth to rid the schools system of all its physical fabric problems. A guarantee of preschool education for all children is one of the Labour Party's commitments when it is in Government after the general election. Such a move would make an enormous difference to disadvantage.

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