COLUMN: 'One Tipperary school reported receiving €461 in a grant payment'

Irish primary schools are facing a severe funding deficit, exacerbating an already strained educational system, writes Angela Dunne, principal of Loughmore National School.

While our schools and pupils are performing consistently well by international standards, Ireland’s expenditure on education, a fundamental pillar for societal progress, ranks the lowest among its OECD counterparts - expenditure per student is equivalent to 13% of per capita GDP, which is below the GDP average of 27%, with primary education being the poor relation to our secondary and tertiary counterparts.

This alarming reality raises serious questions about the Government’s commitment to fostering a robust educational environment, which was why on Tuesday, May 7 Tipperary primary principals called a meeting with Tipperary TDs and County Councillors to appeal for their representation and support.

This was attended by TDs Jackie Cahill and Michael Lowry, and a small number of county councillors.

A closer look at the matters in the meeting, revealed the depth of the issue. Capitation grants, a vital source of funding for schools, have failed to keep pace with inflation.

Shockingly, primary schools receive less than €1 per pupil per day, while their secondary school counterparts receive more than double this amount.

This disparity across all grants allocated to primary school, places an unfair burden on them, disproportionately affecting smaller school is particular, as grants are calculated per pupil, further exacerbating their financial struggles.

Moreover, the most recent blow came in the form of ancillary grants, which were allocated last week, leaving schools unable to cover essential expenses such as cleaning and caretaking wages.

One Tipperary school reported receiving a mere €461.33 in ancillary grant payment, while some others received nothing at all.

The paltry amount received by the majority of schools, left school principals and boards of management shocked by its minuscule size, highlighting the stark reality of the immediate funding crisis facing our primary schools.

Parents, largely unaware of the true state of school financing, are often misled by Government announcements of free books and hot meals, deflecting attention from the grim reality faced by schools.

Schools fundraise relentlessly to pay their bills with parents often working very hard to assist and support in any way they can.

Fundraising cannot and will not suffice for the shortfalls currently facing schools, nor should it have to.

Voluntary Boards of Management are scrambling to seek support from the Department of Education and other education stakeholders to no avail.

Tipperary principals are now taking a stand, aiming to make this an election issue and a matter of urgent priority. They stress the need for serious investment in education, emphasizing its importance and the lifelong impact it has on individuals and society as a whole.

Furthermore, the cruel pressure on teaching principals is driving expertise out of the system, and this cohort of school leaders has needed far greater support in terms of principal release time to address administrative matters, for a long time.

The role of the primary school principal in Ireland has not been reviewed in any meaningful way since 1973!

In addition to this, the lack of funding and support from the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) for pupils with special needs has also reached crisis levels.

These children are being failed by the HSE with its chronically understaffed and overworked primary care and CDNT teams working relentlessly to get through endless waitlists for assessment and intervention.

Additionally, they are left with a “loaves and fish” style Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision in schools in terms of SNA support and SET hours due to lack of adequate supports from the NCSE.

The Department of education does not allow schools to input data in relation to SEN on the POD (Pupil Online Database) system, meaning that no school can be accurately profiled when calculating their SNA and SET allocations annually, and must make so with what they are given, whether it is adequate or not.

The appeals mechanism for additional resources and personnel are arduous and largely unsuccessful, further demoralising school staff and parents.

Schools are often unjustly blamed for this situation, despite having no input into the allocations for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) or Special Education Teacher (SET) hours they receive.

Principals are calling on the Minister for Education to rectify this immediately by allowing schools to input accurate special needs profiles through the existing Pupil Online Database (POD) system.

As the old adage goes, “one cannot fix what one does not acknowledge”.

Without crucial data being known by the Department of Education and NCSE, and in the absence therefore of an action plan devised to address the issue, it will continue to deteriorate, to the detriment of all pupils trying to access an equitable education in our schools.

Tipperary principals are hopeful that Deputy Cahill and Deputy Lowry will facilitate the presentation of this information in Leinster House to a cross party meeting in the hopes of highlighting the issues and moving a step closer to them being acknowledged and plans put in place to rectify them.