Vol. 483 No. 3
396 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will eliminate the discrimination which exists between vocational education committee and non-VEC secondary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20513/97]
The manner in which standard basic resources are provided to second level schools reflects the different management and ownership arrangements for voluntary secondary schools, vocational education committee schools and community and comprehensive schools. Consequently, direct comparison between the funding arrangements of the three sectors is difficult.
The financial allocations for vocational education committee schools are included as part of a block grant which also covers the vocational education committee overheads and other activities apart from the second level programme. Voluntary secondary schools are funded on a per capita basis while the annual budget for community and comprehensive schools takes into account factors which vary from school to school such as age of buildings, size of school, location and levels of vandalism.
The matter of equity of funding between the various sectors at second level is currently being examined by a steering group on funding, which is representative of all the partners in education. Under its terms of reference, the group will draw up a recommended funding framework designed to ensure equal treatment for different schools within the second level sector while taking account of the needs of these different schools.
