Jess Casey: Education budgets never fully recovered from austerity years

With one of the largest budgets each year, education is simply keeping the show on the road 

One point of pride in recent years has been the overall reduction in the primary school pupil: teacher ratio over the last successive budgets. Now averaging at 24:1, the low level still marks Ireland’s classes as the highest in the EU, comparing to an average of 20 students to a class. Picture: PA

During austerity, education saw its budget take a battering. 

Some of the cuts that made the chopping block included teachers’ pay packets, the axing of 200 full-time posts from further education, changes to student grants, and an attempt to make cuts to disadvantaged schools, which was later reversed following outrage.

Like everything, just as the budget was starting to make gains again, Covid hit, eating up millions in PPE, hand sanitiser, extra classrooms, and resources.

Now a crisis that’s not quite over looks set to be superseded by cost-of-living woes, although the cold classrooms will probably still stay the same, with schools across the country now wondering if they will keep the lights and heat on this winter.

So, how will the education sector balance its books while students and parents are feeling the pinch?

Budget breakdown

The Department of Education had an annual budget allocation of €9.2bn for 2022, marking it out as one of the largest.

However, in education, it takes an awful lot of money to simply keep the show on the road, never mind meeting the needs of increasing demographics. 

Things like pay and pensions take up a sizeable chunk of the Department’s overall expenditure, as do necessary capital building projects. It doesn’t always leave plenty of room for investment in extra infrastructure, or resources.

One area that’s likely to be scrutinised is the Department of Education’s allocation of the capitation grant, the funding it provides to schools to cover their day-to-day running costs.

In theory, this should cover the monthly bills. However, many schools need to rely on so-called ‘voluntary contributions’ from families in order to patch holes in their budgets and fully cover their costs for things like heating, classroom resources, and printing.

Concerned now about how they will educate students in a safe and warm manner come winter, primary school managers have called for major increases in capitation funding, calling for an immediate increase in the basic capitation rate by 50%.

Seamus Mulconry of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association  is quoted recently as saying: 

Parents have been subsidising schools for years, but the bank of mum and dad is not solvent enough to support primary schools. The State must act to fulfil its constitutional obligation to provide a free primary education.

School transport

School transport is another area likely to be under scrutiny. Following the Government’s decision to waive school transport fees this summer in response to the cost-of-living crunch, thousands of ‘concessionary’ students are now stuck without, or waiting for, a ticket.

Education Minister Norma Foley told the Oireachtas committee last week, she is “hopeful” of getting an allocation in the budget to rectify this.

There are approximately 124,000 pupils using school buses this year, compared to 103,000 last year.

“In the context of the upcoming budget, I am in discussions with Minister [Michael] McGrath to see if there is potential for that particular cohort who have been concessions previously and where there was capacity, that we may have an opportunity in the context of the budget to do something there,” she told the committee.

One point of pride in recent years has been the overall reduction in the primary school pupil: teacher ratio over the last successive budgets.

Much has been said about Ireland’s ‘supersized’ classrooms, and many teachers across the country will be able to cite examples of classes they know with children packed like sardines.

However, starting with Budget 2021, primary school class sizes have been reduced from 26:1.

Now averaging at 24:1, the historically low level still marks Ireland’s classes as the highest in the EU, comparing to an average of 20 students to a class.

This overall reduction is done through the creation of additional teaching posts via the staffing schedule.

For Budget 2022, this worked out to about 350 extra teaching posts.

Whether a deal to reduce this again further this year, in tandem with extra school transport places, was hammered out in budget negotiations will be seen this week.

Student grants

This week, we will also get our second budget from the newest government department, Further and Higher Education and Research, which was split out on its own in 2020.

Among the measures put forward for consideration by Simon Harris, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, include a 25% increase in student grants and a reduction in third-level fees.

A number of changes to the grant scheme have been costed by his department, including one increase which would see some people receive €1,279 more each year.

A paper published by the department earlier this month estimated increasing the student grant threshold by €250 would cost the State €0.9m.

On the upper limits, an increase of €1,000 to the threshold would see 4,700 extra students qualify for supports, while costing €3.7m.

Adjusting the qualifying distance to avail of the non-adjacent maintenance grant, from 30km to 40km, was estimated to cost €6m each year.

The same paper found that a flat reduction of €250 to student fees, bringing the charge down to €2,750, would cost the taxpayer €21.3m, while a €500 cut in the fee would cost €42.7m.

With some purpose-built student accommodation in Cork city alone attracting prices of €900 and upwards per month, any increase to the student grant is likely to be welcomed when the current full rate stands at €625 a month.