Children Not Scapegoats for Crisis

9 Jul 2009

A debate on education cutbacks at BDC 09 has been told that children cannot be used as scapegoats for the current economic crisis.

TUI President Don Ryan told conference that opposition to education cutbacks was not about "teachers' pay and conditions...it is about our society and our future. The Irish education system is already underfunded and sits in 27th place out of 29 OECD countries."

He said the cuts showed that Government was using children as scapegoats. "Students at school did not cause this crisis.....those who did had their snouts stuck back to their ears in the trough of the nation's wealth."

Meanwhile, the ASTI's Susie Hall said it was a myth that teachers would not, or had not lost their jobs, as a result of the cuts. She said the cuts would cause the creation of a two-tier education system.

In addition, Impact's Johnny Fox condemned the treatment of Special Needs Assistants and School Secretaries, many of whom felt they had to justify their existence so undervalued was their role. Leaky taps and holes in the roof get a greater priority, he said.

Mike Jennings of IFUT said proposals to re-introduce fees would not add one single cent to Third Level funding.