ASTI urges €80m aid spent on special needs

A TEACHERS’ union has called for the €80 million spent by the Government each year for running costs at fee-paying schools to be used for special needs and tackling bad behaviour.

The Department of Education continues to pay teacher salaries and some building expenses at close to 60 private, second-level schools, with fees from parents being used to employ more teachers for smaller class sizes and to provide modern equipment and teaching materials.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin has indicated the practice will not be extended to any new fee-paying schools. But the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) believes the payments should be ended completely.

“Many fee-paying, second-level schools operate selective enrolment procedures, but are positioned to offer enhanced opportunities to students in terms of labs, computers and, most importantly, reduced class sizes provided by the twin funding mechanism,” said TUI president Tim O’Meara.

His members mostly work in schools in the State-run vocational sector, whereas most fee-paying schools are in the voluntary secondary sector, staffed mainly by the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), which believes State supports should remain in place.

ASTI general secretary John White said there is no evidence students do better if they attend a grinds school rather than an ordinary second-level school. He was reacting to publication of league tables of schools which provided most entrants to five universities, showing that the private Institute of Education in Dublin had the most successful college applicants.

Meanwhile, the head of employers’ group IBEC, Turlough O’Sullivan, has called for more focus in schools on young people’s social and communication skills.