It’s time to start outlawing the charging of fees for State schools

Why does the State spend an annual figure of €6.75m on the Protestant Block Grant which supports Protestants who need it with school fees? asks Victoria White

THIS week we learned that the fee-charging schools have consolidated their grip on college courses requiring high points, with 20 of the top 25 “feeder schools” charging fees. This is a big jump from 2013 when fee-charging schools were in 16 of the top 25 slots.

This deepens my unease that Protestant children are still subsidised by the State to go to fee-charging schools in ways Catholic children are not. The story dates to when Donogh O’Malley introduced free secondary education in 1967. Most Protestant schools insisted they had to charge fees because they didn’t have the free services of the religious orders and they had to provide for boarders. From then until Budget 2009, Protestant schools were unique in being subsidised by the State with capitation as if they were free schools but also allowed to charge fees.