An Bord Snip Nua to target education

Tom Dunne

According to the Sunday Business Post, among the targets for proposed cuts by An Bord Snip Nua are educational institutions, up to and including third level.

Just how much can they cut from Primary and Second level education? While I don't have first-hand experience of 1st and 2nd level, how can they seriously contemplate further cuts?

Article here.

spurious

Considering they cut special needs provisions all through the 'celtic tiger' years I can't see what much more is left to snip. They have taken from the weakest kids, the kids with least advantage and the schools that battle against cherry-picking neighbours.

I suppose in theory they could take the privately owned 'voluntary sector' out of Church ownership and amalgamate them within VECs, but I can't see that being a big vote grabber among the Irish Independent readers.

I taught 'remedial' children in the 1980s in classes of no bigger than 12-15 with extra help in reading where needed. Now they're in groups of 26, alongside kids of much higher ability and get a couple of hours a week extra help if they're lucky. Progress.

ulysses32

I am assuming they mean the re-introduction of fees through the student loan scheme. Technically that would count as a cut.

AT first and second level I would imagine that the following might be on the agenda( I don't necesssarily agree with cuts regarding any of the below but.....):

Special Needs Assistants

Inservice

Redeployment

Voluntary redundancy/ Early retirement

rainbowtrout

Perhaps another rise in the pupil teacher ratio. I left primary school in 1991 and there were 38 in my 6th class. The other two 6th classes had similar numbers. Lowest numbers in any class in the school was about 30.

Teaching now, I can't imagine what it must be like to have that many children in one class and to be able to give them all time.