New international study a damning indictment of failure to invest in Irish education – TUI

By piofficer, Thursday, 16th September 2021 | 0 comments

The latest set of annual OECD indicators – Education At A Glance – endorse the work and value of Irish educators while highlighting the abject failure at Government level to invest appropriately in Irish education.   

TUI President Martin Marjoram offered the following commentary:  


Education system chronically and disgracefully underfunded  

“Irish teachers and lecturers continue to provide a first-class education service to learners of all abilities against the backdrop of significant additional challenges.  

The findings of the new OECD Education At A Glance report are timely ahead of next month’s Budget, making crystal clear that educators have been carrying out their work in a sector that is chronically and disgracefully under-resourced by international standards.

With a range of current and future challenges, an adequately-funded education system must be seen as central to the country’s future, and Government must urgently commit to redressing the damage of years of cutbacks and neglect.”
   

Ireland bottom of the pile in terms of overall investment  

“The key statistic in this report shows that of the countries for which figures are provided, none spend a lower proportion of national wealth on education than Ireland’s (3%). At second level, the situation remains particularly dire, with Ireland’s spend (1.1%) the lowest of the 36 countries for which figures are provided, trailing unacceptably far behind the OECD and European averages (both 1.9%).  

Recent experiences related to the pandemic have made clear just how many schools and classrooms are unfit for the requirements of modern education.   

It is students from disadvantaged backgrounds who suffer the most from inadequate education budgets, and the ongoing failure to invest sufficiently must be viewed as a continued attack on the most vulnerable in communities around the country.” 
   

Effects of third level funding crisis made clear  

“At third level, the ratio of students to teaching staff has increased from 20:1 to 23:1 this year, which is vastly higher than the OECD and European averages of 15:1. This is a clear indictment of the ongoing political refusal to address the sector’s funding crisis.”
   

Further and adult education sector offers solution to worrying numbers neither employed nor in education  


“Over 15% of Ireland’s 18-24 year-olds are neither employed nor in education (NEETs), according to the latest OECD data. This represents a large proportion of young people and our publicly-funded further and adult education sector should be appropriately resourced to provide options to this cohort of the population.” 
   

Irish teachers work longer hours than OECD/European averages and earn less than workers with similar educational attainment  


“At upper second level, Irish teachers continue to teach more hours than the OECD and European averages. Finland, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain, Korea and Japan are among those countries with much lower numbers of teaching hours.    

Meanwhile, the report shows that at second level, the actual salaries of Irish teachers are just 89% of those of other full-time workers with a tertiary education.  

In this regard, it is important to highlight that Irish second-level schools continue to experience a teacher recruitment and retention crisis as a result of the two-tier pay system.”   

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