Education budget was better in ’90s

THE proportion of government wealth allocated to education is still lower than it was in the mid-1990s, despite huge economic growth.

Although national wealth more than doubled between 1995 and 2005, the amount of spending from pre-primary to third level only rose by 81%, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Its Education at a Glance 2008 report compares statistics from up to 30 developed countries and, although most of the figures are from 2005 and 2006, Ireland ranks poorly in many areas against countries we compete against for economic investment. The share of national income spent on education in 2005 was 4.6%, up slightly from 4.5% in 2000 but still lower than the 5.2% allocated in 1995.