What they said
An Taoiseach Brian Cowen
Speaking at the Global Irish Economic Forum in September the Taoiseach Brian Cowen himself called for a "strong sense of investment in education, research and development putting in place building blocks for the future."
Hear the Taoiseach on RTE News, September 18, 2009
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0918/9news_av.html?2612748,null,230
The Former Leader of Intel Craig Barrett
Also speaking at the Global Irish Economic Forum Craig Barrett, the former leader of Intel one of the world's largest technology companies, said that Ireland had bigger problems than the banks that need to be tackled if Ireland was to have a long term future, in particular the lag in education funding.
Hear Craig Barrett on RTE News, September 18, 2009
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0918/9news_av.html?2612748,null,230
Fergus Finlay of Barnardos
Very soon we will start operating a new prison in Ireland called Thornton Hall. In its first decade of operation, Thornton Hall will cost the taxpayer €1 billion to run and operate.
In its second decade, Thornton Hall will be full of kids that we neglected while we were spending that €1 billion. If we want to build a society that doesn't need Thornton Hall any more, we should be investing a fraction of that €1 billion in early intervention and prevention in the lives of some of our children.
Tony Donohoe, Head of Education and Social Policy at IBEC
Education and training at all levels of progression have an essential role to play in putting our economy back on a growth path. They provide the key to enabling us to be both competitive and prosperous. Economic return from investment in this area tends to accrue mainly in the medium to long term, but it is vital that we treat it as a priority area for investment, even during this time of acute fiscal stress.
Jackie O' Callaghan of the National Parents' Association for Vocational Schools & Community Colleges
We welcome the u-turn in relation to education issues in the programme for government, but extra vigilance is now essential to make sure that other vital elements of the system are not attacked in the upcoming budget.
Schools are still straining under cutbacks already imposed. The change to the pupil teacher ratio has resulted in a loss of subjects in many schools and has also had serious repercussions for students with special educational needs. Typically, it is the poorest families who suffer as a result.
Education costs for parents have rocketed at a time when families are already under unprecedented economic strain. With this in mind, it is vital that the third level registration free be frozen for the foreseeable future to allow parents to budget for education provision.
In many ways referring to money spent on a day-to-day basis on education as 'current' spending is a misnomer. Students represent the future of the country and all spending in education should be looked upon as capital investment.
Dr Emer Smyth, Research Professor, at the ESRI
Early school leaving has very striking consequences for the individuals themselves but also for the broader society. Those who leave school before the Leaving Certificate are more likely to be unemployed, earn less if they have a job, and have poorer health and high crime levels. Studies within our prison service clearly indicate that only a tiny proportion of prisoners had progressed to Leaving Certificate or beyond.
Investment in education is therefore vital to promote the educational and social development of children and young people.
The current recession is likely to disproportionately impact on disadvantaged children and their families. If we do not provide appropriate educational supports, we are losing huge potential among our young people and we run the risk of having to pay much more later on in terms of spending on social welfare, health and prisons, while tax revenue will also be greatly decreased. Investment in education is an investment in the future of the country.
Kathleen Lynch, Head of Equality Studies, UCD
Inequalities in the outcomes of education in Ireland are all too often taken as a given. We accept as 'educationally inevitable' that students with more economic resources will do better in education than those with fewer resources.
The government has allowed institutionalised injustices in education to persist over generations: it expects schools to supplement basic educational services with so-called 'voluntary contributions' that they know poor parents cannot afford; it allows schools for the privileged to charge fees in addition to being funded by the State; and most recently supported the introduction of non-curriculum based tests for entry to higher education, the HPAT (Higher Professional Aptitude Test) for medicine and the MSAP (Mature Student Aptitude Test) for mature student entry in UCC and UCD.
To create a more equal educational system we need not only to eliminate inherited inequalities that actively promote injustices in access, participation and outcomes within education, we also need to avoid compounding existing injustices with new ones. And we need to recognise and own the immorality of inequalities in education that consigns so many students to a sense of failure on leaving school."
Sally Anne Kinahan, Assistant General Secretary, of ICTU
The Government is reducing the prospects of recovery by its failure to introduce effective measures to preserve jobs and protect those most vulnerable to long-term unemployment, particularly workers with low education attainment.
Congress has consistently pointed to the achievement of countries such as Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and France, which have intervened to save jobs whilst at the same time investing in educating and up-skilling workers to prepare for economic recovery and future growth.
Investment in education - from early childhood development to workplace learning - is the most effective panacea to overcome social disadvantage and inequality, improve life chances, employment prospects and earning power.
