The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) has demanded a review of State support for fee-paying schools in the light of the new survey showing a surge in demand for private education.
The State pays more than €80 million to 50 fee-paying schools every year. Most of this is used to pay teachers' salaries in these schools although the Government has also subsidised some building and other works in fee-paying schools.
Last night, TUI president Tim O'Meara called on Minister for Education Mary Hanafin to review State funding and he criticised selective enrolment policies in private schools.
Earlier this year, Ms Hanafin said she had no plans to abolish State support for fee-paying schools. However, the Minister has expressed concern about the relatively small number of students with special needs and/or newcomer students in fee-paying schools.
In the largest exercise of its kind, the Department of Education is in the process of auditing enrolment policies in 1,900 primary and second-level schools. The results of the audit should be known later this year.
Mr O'Meara said it was unfair that some private schools enjoyed the benefit of both private and public funding. The TUI is also concerned about the impact of the boom in private education on schools in the State sector, many of which have seen a dramatic fall in enrolment.
In a further sign of the boom in the "grinds culture" another Dublin grind school - Ashfield College - this week opened what it calls a "boutique" school on Dublin's Grafton Street.
The school will limit student numbers to 20 per class and charge students more than €1,000 per subject.
The figures for private education do not include the estimated 70 per cent-plus of Leaving Cert students who also take private grinds nor those attending part-time courses - such as Christmas and Easter courses - in Dublin grind schools.
Teachers link the surge in private education to several factors including increased disposable income, the abolition of third-level fees in 1995 and the publication of school league tables, in which private schools tend to feature prominently.
The teacher unions are perplexed by the trend which they see as reflecting greater social division. The ASTI and the TUI say they cannot understand why parents are turning away from excellent State-run schools and opting for private education.