• Full restoration of funding for alternative programmes such as the Leaving Certificate Applied and Leaving Certificate Vocational. These programmes help retain the most vulnerable students through alternative learning methodologies. There appears to be some roll-back on this cutback in the revised programme for government, but any school that wishes to provide these programmes to its community should be automatically facilitated in doing so.

• Removal of the moratorium on middle management posts in schools so that they can make the necessary vital appointments such as year heads, programme co-ordinators, co-ordinators of the pastoral care team etc that provide vital support and guidance for vulnerable students, thus helping to keep them in the system. This moratorium undermines the fabric of Irish school life and is already dismantling the critical support system that benefits the most marginalised students in the country.

• Restoration of appropriate substitution cover for teachers to allow more experiential learning that requires students to leave the school for field trips, extracurricular activities etc. Such activities enable explorative learning and underpin the social and personal development of young people, particularly in schools catering for large numbers of disadvantaged students.
 

We cautiously welcome the education concessions in the revised programme for government.  We commend the Green Party for putting these vital issues centre stage in the recent negotiations and we now call on them to follow through on their good work and monitor the implementation of these commitments closely and if there is any sign of these commitments being reneged on we would expect them to indicate that they will withdraw their support for this government. 

We must however remember that even if all promised measures are implemented, our education system will still be in a considerably worse state than it was prior to this year at a time when student numbers are about to increase at an unprecedentedly rapid rate.  TUI welcomes these steps as being in the right direction but the situation is far from satisfactory.
 
The increase in numbers at second level will subsequently result in an increase in numbers seeking access to Further Education and Higher Education courses.
There has already been a huge increase in numbers looking to access ‘second chance’ education as a result of increasing unemployment over the last twelve months.
The potentially huge role that these sectors can play as part of the government’s employment activation policy has yet to be appropriately acknowledged.

At the very least, the Department of Education and Science needs to:

• Significantly increase the number of places in Further Education. Specifically, the artificial cap on student numbers in Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses needs to be lifted.  The 1,500 additional places announced in April were a woefully inadequate response to public demand.   Enrolment in these courses was restricted to around 30,000 students this year despite 60,000 applications.

• Remove the moratorium on appointment of managers in the Adult Education field. These provide a vital service, especially in rural areas where community based provision is paramount. With the staggering increase in the number of newly unemployed people, this is of an even more critical importance now.

• Provide appropriate funding for third level colleges and maintain staffing levels to allow us to develop the skillbase that will keep us competitive internationally

• Commit to a freezing of the college registration fee to allow families to budget for the coming years.

Failure to invest now will have a number of hugely damaging implications for our society:

• Economically, we will move no further towards the knowledge economy that our politicians talk so often about. We will not have the educational infrastructure.  The country will also be crippled with an ever-rising social welfare bill.  When the cost of supporting an unemployed teacher on the dole is added to the loss in the tax they would pay if employed, the total is in excess of €20,000 per annum.  A teacher on part time hours on the lower end of the scale could be employed for as little as €5,000 more than this.

• Socially, many thousands of young people will fall through some of the gaping cracks that have developed in our education system. Many could eventually end up in our prison system. The cost of keeping a prisoner in Ireland can be as much as €270,000 per annum. A fair, equitable and fully resourced education system creates a fairer society and supports active citizenship.  Apart from compelling social considerations, it is economic madness to remove the education support which will keep these young people away from this fate.

• There is a strong and clear correlation between education and health/life expectancy. Increasing educational attainment ultimately leads to a decreased healthcare bill. Conversely, an increase in the proportion of students falling by the wayside will have catastrophic results for public health and public finances.

Ultimately, failure to invest appropriately in education will result in the Department being in clear breach of its mission statement of enabling individuals to achieve their full potential and to participate fully as members of society and to contribute to Ireland's social, cultural and economic development.

We urge government to take on board the consistent message from the broad spectrum of interests speaking today – employers, educationalists, economists, parents and trade unionists – and commit to increasing investment in our education system.”