Sinn Féin supports the Labour Party motion before the House tonight.
Despite promising that education would be protected from front-line cuts this Government has introduced dozens of cuts that will have a devastating impact on children, teachers and parents.
Is léir anois go bhfuair ár gcóras oideachais an buille is mó agus is uafásaí on mbuiséid mífhreagrach seo. Níl grúpa ar bith slán agus mar is gnáth is iad an dream leochaileach atá thíos leis de bharr mí-iompar an Rialtais Fhianna Fáil-Comhaontas Glas. It is now clear that education has been one of the sectors worst hit by this callous and irresponsible budget. No stone has been left unturned and as usual it is the most vulnerable in society who are paying the price for the utter incompetence of this Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition.
Primary school funding has seen an attack like no other with increases in class sizes, caps on language support teachers at two per school, abolition of equipment and resource grants, cuts to the school buildings project and deferral of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act. Our secondary schools have been hit with cuts in support for pupils from disadvantaged areas, cuts in investment in information technology, increases in school transport costs, abolition of grants towards the junior certificate schools programme, leaving certificate applied and transition year programmes to name but a few.
Attacks on the education sector have also extended as far as third level with an increase in the college registration fee from €900 to €1,500, no provision for increases in student maintenance grants, deferral of planned 2009 increases in medical education places and cuts in adult education grants.
It is quite clear that the Government has not taken any measures to ease the crisis in education and instead has set about a course of reckless cuts which look set to cripple the entire sector.
Yesterday I had to create a new file on my computer because of the sheer volume of emails that I have received from frantic parents, teachers and students who have reached the end of their tether and are being blatantly ignored by the Government elected to serve them. One concerned teacher outlined the detrimental effect that the proposed cutbacks will have on her own school. She wrote:
Every class in our school will be more crowded next year. We will lose one language support teacher, which means less help for every child. From 1st January there will be no substitute cover for teachers on uncertified sick leave — the children in these classes will be divided amongst other, already overcrowded classrooms. All equipment and grants for support teachers working with special needs children are abolished. Our library book grant is gone. The extra capitation provided for traveller children is gone. The school book grant for needy families is gone.
This is just one example of how the ill-advised cuts foisted upon us by the Government will affect our children.
All sides recognise the extremely important role that the education system plays in shaping our society, however in overall terms Ireland ranks 30th out of the 34 countries studied in the Education at a Glance Report 2008 in terms of education expenditure as a percentage of GDP. The same report shows us that increases in spending in this State have been insufficient to match rapidly rising student numbers, most notably in tertiary education. Despite Government claims that it has high ambitions for education provision and that it sees investment in education at all levels as highly important to economic success, these figures show that they shamefully failed to invest in any strategic and meaningful manner.
The programme for Government agreed between the coalition partners gave commitments to decrease the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools. Everyone knew that the Government had moved away from this commitment; however nobody could have predicted the decision to completely abandon it and increase the class sizes from 27 to 28 resulting in many job losses and detrimental effects on the quality of education. Our classrooms are already overcrowded; these measures will make them the largest in Europe.
The current primary school curriculum, with its emphasis on group work and differentiation to suit different learning styles and abilities, cannot be delivered in classes of more than 30. The measures in the budget will result in many classes larger than this.
It will dramatically affect the ability of the system to address learning difficulties and will affect future literacy levels, and levels of maths, science and other subjects that we all accept are critical objectives for the future of our society.
With such increases in class sizes, schools are full to bursting point with little hope of receiving grant aid for use in building extensions or repairing existing buildings. There are more than 1,400 schools on the school building programme yet the Government has slashed the funding for primary school building. That is a fact, make no mistake about it. No head-shaking will erase that fact from the record.
It is completely unacceptable that our children are to continue being taught in deplorable accommodation and conditions throughout the State without any indication of when proper school buildings will be provided.
At present the Department of Education and Science, under the leadership of the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, spends €35.5 million per annum on prefabricated buildings. That is a shameful fact. This is money down the drain which could be reinvested in a proper school building programme. The current downturn in the domestic building sector provides an opportunity to address historic underfunding of school buildings in a way that will provide real value for money into the future.
Sinn Féin has been making the call to drastically reduce class sizes for several years because we believe the positive benefits of smaller classes make them an absolute necessity and more conducive to teaching and learning. Classes of 20 pupils or fewer are internationally accepted as best practice.
We call on the Government to live up to its commitment in the programme for Government with a reduction in the primary school staffing schedule of one pupil per teacher in the school for the school year 2009-10.
Sinn Féin has been calling for significant investment in education as part of a long-term economic strategy to build the knowledge based economy that we talk so much about. If we have to borrow money for capital investment then so be it. We should be spending it now where it will really make a difference. The future of our children depends on it.
These cutbacks only succeed in hurting those who are most vulnerable and those who are key to the strategic growth of our economy. They are short-sighted and counterproductive, show evidence of a lack understanding of the realities of schools and will damage the educational outcomes of hundreds and, likely, thousands of children.
Cutbacks cannot be justified especially, as I must emphasise, when the necessary funds can be raised elsewhere. Under massive public pressure the Government has been forced into a significant climbdown on medical cards for the over 70s. They must now be forced to a climbdown on the savage cutbacks on education.
I call on all Deputies of all parties and none in this House to support the Labour Party motion and call again on the Government to listen to the people including, as I have just come in a few moments after the start of this debate, the some 20,000 people estimated to be standing outside in the pouring rain and the cold — teachers and parents together — making a demand on the Minister and the Government to reverse these disgraceful cuts in education. As a messenger of the people here in this Chamber tonight, I re-echo their voice.