Schools may be forced to close

SOME schools could be forced to close after the latest cut to their day-to-day funding by 5% next year, a management group has warned.

More than €22 million a year will be saved by the cut to a range of grants for schools, including the capitation grant allocated to primary and second level schools based on student numbers.

The funds are used for the maintenance of schools, lighting and heating, purchase of classroom materials, as well as other supports for caretakers and secretaries.

But the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) which represents the boards of almost 400 religious-owned secondary schools, said they are already being forced to source almost one-third of their annual budgets from local communities. For a 500-student school, this means having to raise tens of thousands of euro extra a year.

“Some schools just might not be able to survive, they’ve seen insurance go up 10% and the introduction of full water charges this year. And in the current recession, they can’t ask hard-pressed parents to dig any deeper into their pockets,” said JMB general secretary Ferdia Kelly.

“This will raise serious questions about the viability of many schools and some trustees could be forced to consider if they can keep certain schools open.”