I don't agree with the schooling system?

Wanderer78

Laoislion8383 wrote: »

Only 10 years till my eldest goes to third level and it scares me, being saving since her first birthday for college but I feel it will fall short

your story makes me very angry. you and your partner have worked hard enough and paid enough in taxes

ezra_pound

DoctorBoo wrote: »

Wow. What may seem like spare change to you could be an unaffordable sum to others. The recession has devastated people's incomes.

Firstly. It's your children's education. Secondly the back to school allowance more than covers this cost.

Yes third level education is a scary expense. I agree but unless these costs are increased our third level institutions will descend to junk status which is in nobody's interest.

Laoislion8383

Wanderer78 wrote: »

your story makes me very angry. you and your partner have worked hard enough and paid enough in taxes

Yes but we are fighting the system it's never enough, public services fall so far short in this country, I agree totally with you free education including third level, free health care also but there are too many vested interests calling the shots here and not the clowns we elect who I might add are far too well payed for the job they do

Wanderer78

ezra_pound wrote: »

Firstly. It's your children's education. Secondly the back to school allowance more than covers this cost.

Yes third level education is a scary expense. I agree but unless these costs are increased our third level institutions will descend to junk status which is in nobody's interest.

what if the 80 euro or whatever school fee meant you missed a mortgage payment?

wrong approach to third level. higher cost prevents more people access into the education system creating bigger problems as ive mentioned earlier. what do you propose should be done with these increased fees? what in your mind is junk status? just so we re a little clear.

Stheno

Wanderer78 wrote: »

what if the 80 euro or whatever school fee meant you missed a mortgage payment?

wrong approach to third level. higher cost prevents more people access into the education system creating bigger problems as ive mentioned earlier. what do you propose should be done with these increased fees? what in your mind is junk status? just so we re a little clear.

If you get the 100 back to school allowance that covers the eighty book rental so why would that cause you to miss a mortgage payment?

Our universities are slipping in rankings due to being unable to afford top teaching and research staff

Wanderer78

Stheno wrote: »

If you get the 100 back to school allowance that covers the eighty book rental so why would that cause you to miss a mortgage payment?

Our universities are slipping in rankings due to being unable to afford top teaching and research staff

thank you for clarifying the book thing. im not a parent. i know families in arrears in their mortgages. its scary to watch. theyre also struggling to educate their kids.

my opinion, we never dealt with the wastage in our educational system. we re just hoping by throwing money at it, this will solve the problem. this doesnt always work. if you get talking to people working in the system they ll tell you about the wastage here and there in ths system. nothing has really changed in our country over the last few years but debt loading is not the answer. this will cause further, possibly more serious problems.

ezra_pound

Wanderer78 wrote: »

thank you for clarifying the book thing. im not a parent. i know families in arrears in their mortgages. its scary to watch. theyre also struggling to educate their kids.

my opinion, we never dealt with the wastage in our educational system. we re just hoping by throwing money at it, this will solve the problem. this doesnt always work. if you get talking to people working in the system they ll tell you about the wastage here and there in ths system. nothing has really changed in our country over the last few years but debt loading is not the answer. this will cause further, possibly more serious problems.

If we don't adequately fund our universities they will not attract quality academics, research, students or research funding and we'll end up with degrees not worth the paper they're printed on.

The biggest mistake in education policy in this country was free third level education.

Wanderer78

ezra_pound wrote: »

The biggest mistake in education policy in this country was free third level education.

shocking statement. you clearly dont understand the complexities that are created by having an educational system which has a huge barrier such as fees. please, please, dont ever become a politician. please, for the good of the country. oh and we ve never had a free third level system in this country. i ll explain this later. running

ezra_pound

Wanderer78 wrote: »

shocking statement. you clearly dont understand the complexities that are created by having an educational system which has a huge barrier such as fees. please, please, dont ever become a politician. please, for the good of the country. oh and we ve never had a free third level system in this country. i ll explain this later. running

Indeed.

In looking forward to hearing about these complexities.

You sound like an expert on third level education.

Free fees gave a break to the wealthy and well off in this country by exempting them from paying for something which they were willing and able to fund. It did not greatly increase people from deprived backgrounds from going to third level. Instead the poor still left school early and started working on building sites, eating breakfast rolls and paying tax to fund the education of people their own age from wealthy backgrounds.

This is the reality.

Meanwhile our universities have been underfunded and are falling down the international league tables.

The old system of fees and some scholarship programmes for those who could not afford fees was a much better system.

The UK system of college loans is a better system.

What I want is a quality educational system for all, rich or poor.

Sligo1

I thought third level education was ultimately free in Ireland? For your first tertiary entrance? I mean, I'm aware of course there are always registration fees and fees for books etc etc. but in New Zealand where I was born and did my degree we had to pay thousands. I thought initial tuition fees here were free or subsidised or something no? Ireland tbh, has it very good compared to other countries...?

Stheno

Sligo1 wrote: »

I thought third level education was ultimately free in Ireland? For your first tertiary entrance? I mean, I'm aware of course there are always registration fees and fees for books etc etc. but in New Zealand where I was born and did my degree we had to pay thousands. I thought initial tuition fees here were free or subsidised or something no? Ireland tbh, has it very good compared to other countries...?

Think it's at least two grand a year unless you get a grant

Sligo1

Stheno wrote: »

Think it's at least two grand a year unless you get a grant

I know 2k is a lot but That's peanuts compared to third year tuition costs in most other countries tho no?? Is that not like An enrolment or registration fee?

Stheno

Sligo1 wrote: »

I know 2k is a lot but That's peanuts compared to third year tuition costs in most other countries tho no?? Is that not like An enrolment or registration fee?

I think so am not sure

I'm doing a part time masters with an English uni and fees are almost four grand this year

ezra_pound

Sligo1 wrote: »

I know 2k is a lot but That's peanuts compared to third year tuition costs in most other countries tho no?? Is that not like An enrolment or registration fee?

Yes. And it's one reason the Irish university sector is so underfunded and in danger of racing to the bottom at h high speed.

Sligo1

Stheno wrote: »

I think so am not sure

I'm doing a part time masters with an English uni and fees are almost four grand this year

Did my masters in Ireland and was 10k. But that's not classes as a first undergrad degree...

Stheno

Sligo1 wrote: »

Did my masters in Ireland and was 10k. But that's not classes as a first undergrad degree...

Sorry didn't mean it as a direct comparison

eviltwin

Wanderer78 wrote: »

what if the 80 euro or whatever school fee meant you missed a mortgage payment?

wrong approach to third level. higher cost prevents more people access into the education system creating bigger problems as ive mentioned earlier. what do you propose should be done with these increased fees? what in your mind is junk status? just so we re a little clear.

It's school, they are well used to people have issues like this I'm sure. There are instalment options and I'm sure for genuine hardship they will work something out. I'm one of the lucky ones, 80 quid is nothing compared to what some people pay between books, uniform etc.

Sligo1

Stheno wrote: »

Sorry didn't mean it as a direct comparison

Yea I know. And post grads are really expensive. I was just comparing Ireland to other countries really. Ireland has so many benefits and subsidies and allowances that other countries don't have. And ultimately they do have free tuition for tertiary education of it is your first degree etc...

pwurple

Sligo1 wrote: »

Yea I know. And post grads are really expensive. I was just comparing Ireland to other countries really. Ireland has so many benefits and subsidies and allowances that other countries don't have. And ultimately they do have free tuition for tertiary education of it is your first degree etc...

Exactly. Students here don't come out of an undergraduate with 100k of student loans.

Sligo1

pwurple wrote: »

Exactly. Students here don't come out of an undergraduate with 100k of student loans.

Precisely! My siblings and I came out of new Zealand's with great degrees but massive massive student loans! They worked non stopped during their college years aswell and were helped out by my parents. My husband on the other hand who would've been from quite a less well off family than us went to college in Ireland. He worked A couple days per week in the local tesco which funded his nights out on the beer (2-3 per week) and has also come out with a good degree but no college loan whatsoever. Something which working in tesco or his parents definitely did not cover. Having said that he did live with granny (minimal rent) which would've helped. But the difference is very significant!

Wanderer78

i remember meeting an indian born guy on a flight coming back from san francisco many moons ago. he went to one of the big universities in america. he said he left university with a mortgage long before he bought a house and started a family. is this what irish people want? im just wondering, has ireland truly learned anything from this recession? are people realising that debt creation truly caused this recession or am i the only one seeing this? have i truly gone mad or something? im deeply concerned about this as im starting to realise that im almost alone on my thinking on these matters, even or politicians dont see it. we have got to stop thinking that debt is the solution to our problems

doc11

Wanderer78 wrote: »

i remember meeting an indian born guy on a flight coming back from san francisco many moons ago. he went to one of the big universities in america. he said he left university with a mortgage long before he bought a house and started a family. is this what irish people want? im just wondering, has ireland truly learned anything from this recession? are people realising that debt creation truly caused this recession or am i the only one seeing this? have i truly gone mad or something? im deeply concerned about this as im starting to realise that im almost alone on my thinking on these matters, even or politicians dont see it. we have got to stop thinking that debt is the solution to our problems

So the tax payers should be burdened with someones educational mortgage?If you get the benefit of college why should someone who never went help fund it. Your receiving the salary benefit of higher education, no one else. Do you want to pay the indians guys mortgage too? Why not?

Sligo1

Debt is definitely not a solution obviously. But you also can't have everything for nothing....

Wanderer78

yup gone mad i have. anybody got the number of a mental health hospital? these ideas of free education and free health care are clearly nuts ideas. i must rid them! as i say, rinse repeat! welcome to world and irish mentality regarding economics and other such issues mentioned earlier. we dont have a hope as a country

Sligo1

But Ireland does have free education. If u don't want to pay for books then go to a library and get them out for free...

ezra_pound

Wanderer78 wrote: »

i remember meeting an indian born guy on a flight coming back from san francisco many moons ago. he went to one of the big universities in america. he said he left university with a mortgage long before he bought a house and started a family. is this what irish people want? im just wondering, has ireland truly learned anything from this recession? are people realising that debt creation truly caused this recession or am i the only one seeing this? have i truly gone mad or something? im deeply concerned about this as im starting to realise that im almost alone on my thinking on these matters, even or politicians dont see it. we have got to stop thinking that debt is the solution to our problems

I presume went to Berkeley which comes about 5th or 6th best university in the world in recent years. If you qualify for this university and if you want to effectively get an early mortgage, then by all means do so. This man did and presumably he figured that by going to one of the best universities in the world, he'd earn back the huge fees.

A few things to note though. His parents presumably were not from an elitist background and fees did not s stop this man from achieving his goals. Furthermore, you can be sure that his parents weren't ringing Joe Duffy over having to pay 80 euro for school material and towards his education. Because if they did, you can be damn sure that he wouldn't have made it to Berkeley or UCLA.

Now I'm not suggesting that ucd or trinity should be charging those kind of crazy fees but the belief that you can have quality universities without appropriate fees is not realistic.

Wanderer78

Sligo1 wrote: »

But Ireland does have free education. If u don't want to pay for books then go to a library and get them out for free...

wow, i ll leave the parents reading this explain to you why this is almost 100% wrong, since im not a parent. please dont believe everything the politicians tell you. you might just get into a wee bit of trouble in life if you do.

Wanderer78

ezra_pound wrote: »

I presume went to Berkeley which comes about 5th or 6th best university in the world in recent years. If you qualify for this university and if you want to effectively get an early mortgage, then by all means do so. This man did and presumably he figured that by going to one of the best universities in the world, he'd earn back the huge fees.

A few things to note though. His parents presumably were not from an elitist background and fees did not s stop this man from achieving his goals. Furthermore, you can be sure that his parents weren't ringing Joe Duffy over having to pay 80 euro for school material and towards his education. Because if they did, you can be damn sure that he wouldn't have made it to Berkeley or UCLA.

Now I'm not suggesting that ucd or trinity should be charging those kind of crazy fees but the belief that you can have quality universities without appropriate fees is not realistic.

yea he went to one of the big ones, cant remember for the life of me which one though. that was a few years ago now. the thing was, he was 40 odd, sitting with me in economy, and said he was still paying back his college fees. scared the bejesus out of me. i think he said he was still sending money home at that stage. wouldnt say his parents were all that well off. i was well impressed with him.

ive luckily passed through trinity and ucd with no debts after it. id like to see others have the same opportunities ive had and more. i dont want to see families struggle to educate their kids. ive had some amazing opportunities due to our 'free' education system.

mohawk

when they got rid of fees in Ireland it was the sons and daughters of farmers and tradesmen etc that started to go to third level. While these people did not come from deprived backgrounds their parents most likely would not of been able to sent 2/3 children to third level. A lot of people I went to college with were the first in their family to go to college.

College graduates in America earn a lot more then they do in Ireland and by keeping college expensive this will continue to be the case.

Regarding the OP my son in in Junior infants in local catholic school. The first thing they do in the morning is play for 30 mins. There is no blackboard in the classroom. They go to the computer room 3 times a week for maths. My son is on autism spectrum and his resource hours are used to focus on his social skills as its where he struggles most. His teacher believes school is much more than learning to read and write. I think primary school is very different place to what it was for us parents.

Wanderer78

mohawk wrote: »

when they got rid of fees in Ireland it was the sons and daughters of farmers and tradesmen etc that started to go to third level. While these people did not come from deprived backgrounds their parents most likely would not of been able to sent 2/3 children to third level. A lot of people I went to college with were the first in their family to go to college.

College graduates in America earn a lot more then they do in Ireland and by keeping college expensive this will continue to be the case.

Regarding the OP my son in in Junior infants in local catholic school. The first thing they do in the morning is play for 30 mins. There is no blackboard in the classroom. They go to the computer room 3 times a week for maths. My son is on autism spectrum and his resource hours are used to focus on his social skills as its where he struggles most. His teacher believes school is much more than learning to read and write. I think primary school is very different place to what it was for us parents.

i wouldnt have had a hope of going to college if it werent for our 'free' education system. parents would not have been able to afford it and my father was a civil servant at the time. i was the first to go. delighted i did so. best experiences ive ever had.

delighted to hear that about your son. we certainly have come along way in regards learning disabilities etc. have you seen a noticeable reduction in funding and services regarding your sons education?

SMJSF

I do agree to an extent that the education system is a mush!!!

I went to 2 primary schools, never bothered me, but it was the secondary schools which made me realize that the system is totally crazy!

I went to a Catholic private school (recommended by my 6th class teacher-big mistake) and didn't last two years.
It was run by nuns and there way of teaching left my grades in Ds & Es after 1 year.
They basically bet you into the religious beliefs of God, and wouldn't dare speak of rape or contraception. Great education there.
In a SPHE class in 2nd year, we had to write questions down about the birds and the bees and for the teacher to read them out and answer them, and I asked how twins were made, (now I knew the answer thanks to my mother teaching me about reproduction at 7) but the teacher skipped it, and the principal rang my guardian at the time and went ballistic at the fact that I asked such a question .
By the time I was 18, the year of 63 students I was in at that school, less than 20 were there for the LC.

Then went to a non-religious public school for 3rd year, and my grades went up to Bs, they got me into classes I had a interest in that I had good enough grades for, and took me out of ones I just wasn't doing good in.
I made friends who didn't judge, and I could concentrate on subjects I had a chance at. I got great junior cert results (8 subjects) and went into LCA because the teachers could see I was better at practical work than text books.

In my case, it shown that fee paying doesn't mean a good education result!

So it all comes down to the child as an individual, their talants and their ways of learning.
Strict schooling may suit some, more relaxed approach and concentrating on what is important will suit others.

Stheno

Wanderer78 wrote: »

i wouldnt have had a hope of going to college if it werent for our 'free' education system. parents would not have been able to afford it and my father was a civil servant at the time. i was the first to go. delighted i did so. best experiences ive ever had.

n?

Why are you so against it so?

Wanderer78

Stheno wrote: »

Why are you so against it so?

system needs massive changes for the reasons outlined before. im not repeating myself as im getting tired doing so. im just becoming increasingly worried about the debts families are getting themselves into in trying educate themselves and their kids and im not seeing it getting any easier. i really can see families re-mortgaging their homes in trying to do so. a disturbing idea

Stheno

Wanderer78 wrote: »

system needs massive changes for the reasons outlined before. im not repeating myself as im getting tired doing so. im just becoming increasingly worried about the debts families are getting themselves into in trying educate themselves and their kids and im not seeing it getting any easier. i really can see families re-mortgaging their homes in trying to do so. a disturbing idea

I think you need a reality check given you are so opposed to a bill of eighty Euro for book rental for a year

Most of the books I use professionally and for my masters cost that alone

The likes of France who have universal access to third level have seen a huge decline in standards

Third level education is not a right it's a privilege imo and one which is this country is eminently attainable, I've paid for all of mine myself, and there are grants and the likes of btea too

Wanderer78

Stheno wrote: »

I think you need a reality check given you are so opposed to a bill of eighty Euro for book rental for a year

Most of the books I use professionally and for my masters cost that alone

The likes of France who have universal access to third level have seen a huge decline in standards

Third level education is not a right it's a privilege imo and one which is this country is eminently attainable, I've paid for all of mine myself, and there are grants and the likes of btea too

moving on! rinse repeat ireland! we re sunk!

listen to some ted talks and you might find out what happens if you dont educate your population. best of luck. ive spoken enough on this matter

Stheno

Wanderer78 wrote: »

moving on! rinse repeat ireland! we re sunk!

listen to some ted talks and you might find out what happens if you dont educate your population. best of luck. ive spoken enough on this matter

Fine just ignore international research, Ted talks are the way of the future

ezra_pound

Wanderer78 wrote: »

moving on! rinse repeat ireland! we re sunk!

listen to some ted talks and you might find out what happens if you dont educate your population. best of luck. ive spoken enough on this matter

What's the point in providing free universal education if the standard of that education is inadequate. This is a serious issue. As a parent I care not only for the standard of the university system for my own kids but also for the nation they live in. I want them to live in a first class economy with quality research and the best international firms setting up here. I don't want it to come to the point where a good education means sending my kids to the UK.

I know that you did well through the ahernist system but that was a flawed system as we all know.

Irish universities must not be allowed to decline like in France.

ezra_pound

Wanderer78 wrote: »

moving on! rinse repeat ireland! we re sunk!

listen to some ted talks and you might find out what happens if you dont educate your population. best of luck. ive spoken enough on this matter

No one is suggesting we don't educate our population. We're just stating that education needs to be adequately funded.

Sligo1

Wanderer78 wrote: »

wow, i ll leave the parents reading this explain to you why this is almost 100% wrong, since im not a parent. please dont believe everything the politicians tell you. you might just get into a wee bit of trouble in life if you do.

I haven't a clue about politics or politicians. Never listen to any of them. I do my own thing my own way. And one thing I believe in is that a good education is a privilege. And a lot of the time one has to work hard in order to be allowed this privilege. Universities will be buried without adequate funds being pumped into them to fund research etc. otherwise it would be completely substandard and not one I would choose for my children. And I am a parent... So I can comment on this. And thanks, but I don't need any explanations regarding this as I have a masters in the subject .

Just to add, you yourself have stated that you have come out of university in Ireland with no personal loans... That's great! What on earth are you complaining about then? I 100% guarantee you if you attended a different university in for example, New Zealand, Australia, America etc... You wouldn't be quite so lucky regarding educational debt.

Stheno

ezra_pound wrote: »

What's the point in providing free universal education if the standard of that education is inadequate. This is a serious issue. As a parent I care not only for the standard of the university system for my own kids but also for the nation they live in. I want them to live in a first class economy with quality research and the best international firms setting up here. I don't want it to come to the point where a good education means sending my kids to the UK.

I know that you did well through the ahernist system but that was a flawed system as we all know.

Irish universities must not be allowed to decline like in France.

I fully agree my masters thesis in IT is concerned with a current hot topic in IT and my thesis is very current so much so that peers in my industry have indicated significant interest in reviewing and contributing to it

I changed from my original topic and emailed and rang my course director with concerns about my supervisor on the topic

On hearing what it was they immediately switched me as it was of interest

I doubt most lecturers in Ireland would take that approach

liquoriceall

There is also the minor issue of people going on to 3rd level education doing mickey mouse courses which have no educational merit for free! Im certain if their parents or they themselves had to pay they wouldnt be doing half these courses!

Sligo1

liquoriceall wrote: »

There is also the minor issue of people going on to 3rd level education doing mickey mouse courses which have no educational merit for free! Im certain if their parents or they themselves had to pay they wouldnt be doing half these courses!

I completely agree with this. And you also have many many (not all obviously) people going to these third level institutions and pissing the year away in the pub because the courses haven't cost them or their parents the thousands upon thousands of euro to attend....

Sleepy

One thing I think that seems to be missed in the move towards child-centric learning etc. is self discipline. When we have so many parents looking to treat their children as special little snowflakes, I worry that they'll end up completely unable to work in the real world where negative things happen, where you have to do what you're instructed to etc.

SF12

I would wholeheartedly agree. I read an article recently about a study in narcissim in children (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/03/09/how-parents-create-narcissistic-children/) - by telling them how great they are all time, they believe they're better than everyone else at everything. And then they can't cope when they get older and discover the world doesn't work like that.

I also think a little rote learning goes hand in hand with self-discipline. You need self-discipline to sit down and learn things off. And if you want any hope of remembering basic things like maths tables, spellings etc, you have to spend at least some time learning stuff off. We can make it as airy-fairy as we like with whiteboards and dances and games and TV screens and apps, but at the end of the day there just has to be a period of time spent rote-learning the basics. It's just how the human brain remembers things.

I think there are actually a lot of good things about the education system in this country. I think a lot of parents are hung up on the whole thing of "what school was like in my time". It's not like that any more at all. You don't go to school age 4 to sit in rows and be chastised by members of the religious orders. It's changed a bit, y'know. Also it's all very well to say that you don't want your 5 year old sitting at a desk being quiet and learning (which, by the way, they are generally not - when was anyone here last in a JI classroom during the day?!) , but when they get to 8, 10, 12, 15 years old (which is a short enough time period) - what do you expect of how they should behave in school then? And how do you think they will learn that behaviour? The whole point of education is that is a long game. Delayed gratification...you put the effort in over the years, and should see rewards at the end of it. (Although in my own case and many others, events outside our control such as the recession, have put an end to that plan...:()

I fully appreciate there are those that have learning problems that make the existing system difficult or unsuitable. Yet for all of that, the parents of these kids still want them in mainstream education, for many reasons. I think the OP made the point also about more kids being on medication, with behavioural diagnoses....sometimes parents push the diagnoses, not wanting to believe that their kid IS just badly behaved (generally as a result of poor parenting, or maybe the parental situation) or maybe just a bit slower than they were. Also there is simply more recognition and understanding of various disorders such as Autism and Aspergers, and believe it or not, the education system does put a lot of resources and training and time into learning about these kids and accommodating them.

The point I'm trying to make in my ramblings is that writing off the entire education system because your memories of it are bad is a bit misjudged. Obviously schooling your child is entirely your decision, but I feel that the system gets a lot of bad press, when it's not all bad. And yes, there are problems, but we should be careful not to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" when trying to fix them.

LegacyUser

Just in relation to the Educate Together schools - I chose one of these schools for my child for some of the reasons mentioned already namely I like the ethos of the school and the fact that religious education cover numerous different types of religion should my child ever wish to choose one.

I would however like to point out that the fee of 80 referred to earlier may only relate to that specific school. The fees in my child's school were 150 which included a small book rental charge, for some books but not all. I still had to buy books and supplies which cost roughly 100. Then they also look for a "voluntary contribution" with a suggested amount of 100 or 150 (I can't remember exactly), however I have not been in a position to pay this in the years my child has attended this school and have in fact paid the regular fees in instalments. On top of that then was a charge of 78 to pay for swimming. Extras then include school trips and raffle tickets and such.

I have no problem with the school at all, nor with paying the fees (though the swimming is expensive considering they go once a week for six weeks), but I just wanted to give a realistic picture of the actual costs involved.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

OP I've been thinking about homeschooling too although my eldest is only 15 months at the moment so I'm really jumping the gun. I had a thread about it recently and got some good replies and things to think about. What I am thinking of doing is trying homeschooling when my son gets to 4 and if it doesn't work out, I can send him to school at 5. Steiner schools do sound great in theory but like lazygal said, if you have a closer look some of their philosophies are quite 'out there'. If we do go the route of traditional schooling it will be an educate together school that we choose.

iguana

Emmet Drab Gum wrote: »

OP I've been thinking about homeschooling too although my eldest is only 15 months at the moment so I'm really jumping the gun. I had a thread about it recently and got some good replies and things to think about. What I am thinking of doing is trying homeschooling when my son gets to 4 and if it doesn't work out, I can send him to school at 5. Steiner schools do sound great in theory but like lazygal said, if you have a closer look some of their philosophies are quite 'out there'. If we do go the route of traditional schooling it will be an educate together school that we choose.

Have you already applied for the ET schools? I applied for my 'local' ET when he was 4 months old and he is low enough on the list that he may get a place but if even less than 10 siblings of current pupils have applied to be in his class, he won't get a place. If you haven't already it would be worth checking the enrolment policy in the school/s near you.

I also feel much more comfortable with the idea of home education for my son but I want to be able to give him the option.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

iguana wrote: »

Have you already applied for the ET schools? I applied for my 'local' ET when he was 4 months old and he is low enough on the list that he may get a place but if even less than 10 siblings of current pupils have applied to be in his class, he won't get a place. If you haven't already it would be worth checking the enrolment policy in the school/s near you.

I also feel much more comfortable with the idea of home education for my son but I want to be able to give him the option.

Yup I applied for both of mine last month. Like you said though the school is very oversubscribed. I also make a monthly donation to Educate Together, I wouldn't in a million years believe that it would have any influence (unlike the mammy who told me about the donation facility in the first place) but I make the donation anyway because I believe that ET schools are a brilliant innovation and hopefully, if more people donate, more schools will open and the places won't be so precious

cactusgal

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Hmmm I dunno about that. Where did you get that figure? I grew up in the USA and did my undergraduate degree there, I'd definitely say students have significantly more debt than that after four years of tuition, accommodation, books, etc.

I also paid more taxes and much higher fees on health insurance when I lived and worked there. I'm able to save more money working in Ireland.

That's my experience, anyway (as someone who's done degrees and worked in both countries).