School funding - Hanafin plan highlights problems

It was ironic that on the day that Education Minister Mary Hanafin announced a €40 million annual social inclusion — or equality — plan, young children were withdrawn from one school condemned in a Health and Safety report last year.

The minister’s initiative is commendable, as it will deliver 300 additional jobs in 600 primary and 150 second level schools under the DEIS programme, Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools.

More importantly, it will focus on early intervention for childhood education, especially for literacy and numeracy in disadvantaged urban primary schools.