School lists - More cash, not cuts, is the issue

IT IS encouraging to see the Teachers’ Union of Ireland take up the cudgel on behalf of those it says are at an educational disadvantage.

The TUI, which has about 12,000 members, has declared that schools that exclude children with special needs, foreign nationals or Travellers should be “named and shamed”. The union’s assistant general secretary, John MacGabhann, claimed the department must implement a more “aggressive policy” if the “ghettoisation” of schools is to be curtailed. “The department should name, shame and bleed them dry,” he suggested.

“There are schools now where the majority of students comprise of special needs, international students and Travellers. These... are becoming de facto special schools because the traditional cohort of students is being sent elsewhere,” he said.

It is strange that an educational professional should suggest that any school’s resources be curtailed, one would imagine that Mr MacGabhann would be fighting for more funding for all of the education system.

After all, we spend a mere 4.6% of our GDP on education but the OECD average stands at nearly half that again at 6.2%. This is another example of haggling that obscures the bigger picture — we do not spend enough on education. Sadly, Mr MacGabhann’s argument is further undermined by his union’s opposition to the publication of the only list that really matters about schools: league tables.