Rise of 4% in support grant for Protestant fee-paying schools

Financially troubled Protestant schools are to benefit from an increase of almost 4 per cent in a special grant for low-income students.

The Protestant Block Grant, a means-tested student support scheme, is going up by €250,000 to €6.75 million in this academic year and will be held at that level for 2015/16, Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan has said.

She made the announcement at a conference of Protestant second-level schools in Dublin at which she rejected claims that cuts in support to fee-paying schools in recent years - prompting some to enter the free scheme - had led to a false economy.

Ms O’Sullivan noted that since 2011, four Protestant schools had transferred into the Free Education scheme, thereby removing “the challenge of raising fees for the parents of students in those schools”.

“There are other fee-charging schools, both Protestant and Catholic, who are engaging with officials in my department in relation to their options in this regard,” she said, adding that “school communities need to reflect on this step before coming to a final decision”.

However, she said: “Some have argued that the transfer of schools from the fee-charging sector to the free scheme will cost the Exchequer more. And of course, that would be true if all, or even most of the schools in the fee-charging sector were to enter the free scheme. But there is no suggestion that even a majority of schools are considering this option.

“The reductions in funding of fee-charging schools over recent years have provided savings of about €15 million - funding that has allowed class sizes in free schools to be protected. These savings considerably outweigh any additional costs which have been incurred through the entry of four Protestant schools to the free scheme.”

The Joint Managerial Body, which represents the majority of boards of management at secondary level, has called for the reversal of cuts to the fee-paying sector in the upcoming budget, warning the added financial burden on the state if more schools abandon private status.

While Ms O’Sullivan said she was “modestly” increasing the block grant she believed the gesture “will help to ensure that parents can exercise choice in selecting a Protestant school for their children, if they wish to do so”.

She added “this support will be reviewed if the financial situation our nation faces continues to improve”.

The grant can be used by students to help pay boarding costs and/or tuition fees where they attend a fee charging school, or towards boarding costs in either of the two Protestant Schools in the free scheme that provide such facilities.

Addressing the General Synod Board of Education second-level conference on faith and partnership yesterday, Ms O'Sullivan also reiterated her intention to amend amend Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, which "has brought a 'chill factor' to our schools for some of our teachers, and particularly those who are lesbian or gay".

She said: “While respecting and protecting the ethos of our schools, we must also respect our teachers, and their right to live and work free from possible discrimination on the basis of who their partner is, or when they choose to have children.

“I have already begun discussions with Aodhán Ó Ríordáin on amending the Employment Equality Act, and I am determined to do so during this school year. So that next September, all of our teachers can arrive at school knowing that a culture of tolerance and welcome is all that they will face.”