Schools have lost over 20% of grant income, say boards

BUDGET cuts have resulted in schools losing over 20% of their total grant income, with some losing as much as €60,000 in a full year, according to the representative body for the boards of management of almost 400 secondary schools in Ireland.

Noel Merrick, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body and the Association of Management of Catholic Secondary schools, warned that their smaller schools were facing extinction.

“When one considers the outstanding service that these schools have given to their communities at minimum cost, it would be an outrage if they were pushed into closure,” he said.