Madam, - With children starting and returning to school it is encouraging that our Minister for Education appears committed to improving equality in our education system. However, it is hard to hold out hope that this Government will achieve any real progress in this area.
In spring (when there were no budget negotiations in sight) the Minister went on a bizarre solo run in an attempt to reintroduce third-level fees on a scale that would have raised little more than €15 million and would have imposed severe financial strains on many families.
That idea having fallen by the wayside, it is now suggested that support for private secondary schools might be withdrawn. This would yield no short-term saving, as teachers in such schools would still remain employees of the Department, but it would, in the long run, potentially drive an even bigger wedge between public and private schools and increase the financial burden on many families.
Mr Dempsey has all the appearances of a man standing at the end of a conveyor belt with a large hammer and a small chisel frantically trying to come up with ways to make all the parts coming off the line look the same.
Unfortunately, nobody in Government seems to be concerned about getting things right at the start. It is clear that we need significantly to improve pre-school and primary school education. This is the time when so many children have boundless energy, enthusiasm and potential waiting to emerge. Yet many turn up to dilapidated buildings with collapsing roofs while others may not arrive at all or may need some pre- or post-school support, such as decent meals, help with homework or transport to school.
It is depressing to recall that, after reducing aid to the Third World, this Government's second wave of cuts last year was directed at school building and repair plans and the Community Employment schemes and projects that can provide the essential back-up for community pre-school and primary school support programmes.
Not only is this a false economy, it is a fundamentally unjust one, and a betrayal of the Government's responsibilities on our behalf. - Yours, etc.,
OISÍN QUINN, Temple Villas, Dublin 6.