Schools battle on despite funds crisis
As a teaching principal in Swords Educate Together National School since its establishment in 2001, I am still shocked at the brick walls we keep coming up against at the Department of Education and Science.
For example, this will be the fifth consecutive year in which fellow board members and I will have worked throughout the summer trying to make up time for unnecessary and frustrating departmental delay in sanctioning temporary accommodation for 60 new pupils who are due to start school next September.
Despite our collective and frequent chorus of ‘enough is enough’, such is the support in the Educate Together sector - our national representative body and a registered charity - that we relentlessly pursue our vision for our school.
In the main, this support comes directly from the national office.
With our annual general meeting taking place today (Saturday, May 14), we are all painfully aware of the funding crisis that is now facing our national office.
Readers will be shocked to read that the total state grant per annum to Educate Together is less than €40,000.
How many ministers claim more than this in annual expenses?
Our state must own up to its responsibilities and support the development of multi-denominational education in our rapidly growing multicultural society - immediately.
Supporting 35 existing schools, opening five new schools next September and supporting another 30 communities to establish a multi-denominational school in the near future is simply not possible with state funding of less than €40,000.
Give Educate Together the support to deliver on the Government’s responsibilities.
Gerard Kelly
Principal
Swords Educate Together NS
Applewood
Swords
Co Dublin
