‘Crisis level’: Schools ‘can no longer rely on bailouts from bank of mum and dad’

Primary school managers say their finances are “extremely challenging” due to increases in day-to-day costs and that schools urgently require additional funding.

They said State investment is essential so school communities are not totally dependent on voluntary contributions from hard-pressed parents to provide basic requirements such as heat, light, and water in schools.

The seven main primary school management bodies – An Foras Pátrúnachta, Catholic Primary School Management Association, Church of Ireland Board of Education, Educate Together, Education and Training Boards Ireland, the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education and the Muslim Primary Education Board – issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for increases in funding per student.

Seamus Mulconry, general secretary of the Catholic Primary School Management Association, said: “Schools are under severe financial pressure and need help immediately. Schools can no longer count on a bailout from the bank of mum and dad. Government must fulfil its constitutional obligation to provide free primary education now.”

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In response to cost-of-living pressures, Minister for Education Norma Foley announced a “once-off” capitation payment of €90 million to schools in last year’s budget, equivalent to an increase of about 40 per cent, to cover running costs such as electricity and heat.

Primary school managers said although this increase was critical to maintain financial insolvency, their finances remain extremely challenging due to ongoing increases in energy, insurance, cleaning and waste-disposal costs, as well as the cost of teaching materials and buses.

[ Ireland ranks last in spending on education ‘as a percentage of GDP’, study finds ]

Emer Nowlan, chief executive of Educate Together, said last year’s increase just about enabled most schools to keep their heads above water, with many continuing to struggle to meet utility bills and other basic costs.

“Chronic underfunding is now at crisis level, and this is hitting disadvantaged communities and developing schools hardest – the Government must build on last year’s budget to ensure all schools have the basic funds they need,” she said.

Dr Ken Fennelly, secretary of the Church of Ireland Board of Education, said school leaders were alarmed at the rising cost of running schools.

“We need sufficient funds to educate our children in a warm and safe environment. Funding needs to be raised to a realistic level to reflect the current cost of living,” he said.

Among the requests of primary school managers in advance of next month’s budget are:

• An immediate increase in the basic capitation rate to €275 per pupil;
• An increase of 10 per cent across all other capitation grants;
• The “capping” of the grant to an enrolment of 500 pupils should be abolished for larger schools;
• Schools be provided with extra funding to replace the enhanced cleaning grant;
• Annual funding to meet schools’ ICT costs to be restored

Eileen O’Rourke, general secretary of the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education, said special schools and, increasingly, schools with special classes face a substantial extra financial burden every year due to the cost of annual training they must provide for all school staff.

“In special schools, SNA and bus-escort teams can frequently number over 100 people to be trained along with all other school personnel. This training is provided by external private companies and adds up to a cost of thousands of euros which schools must pay out of their annual budget,” she said.

“These schools also purchase protective equipment and wearables for staff, often imported from the UK, which also presents another substantial financial challenge. Schools cannot continue to carry this extra financial burden without the capitation and budget increases outlined in this document.”

Paddy Lavelle, chief executive of Education and Training Boards Ireland, said many schools were resorting to parent contributions to fund the basics of running a school.

As a result, the disparity between the education experiences of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds was growing even further.

“An increase in the State funding available to schools is essential to stop this in its tracks,” he said.

Asiya Al Tawash, chairwoman of the Muslim Primary Education Board, added: “Both schools and parents are now facing into ongoing financial difficulties. It is time to adequately resource the education all our children need and deserve.”