The statement, which follows a press conference on 30 September in Buswell’s Hotel Dublin, calls on the government to ensure that adequate funding and investment is allocated to Irish primary schools. It comes jointly from the representatives of seven management groups:

• Antoinette Buggle, General Secretary, National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education;
• Bláthnaid ní Ghréacháin, Ardfheidhmeannach, Gaelscoileanna Teo;
• Dónall Ó Conaill, Rúnaí, Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán-Ghaeilge;
• Eileen Flynn, General Secretary and Mgn. Dan O'Connor, Catholic Primary Schools Management Association;
• Canon John McCullagh,  Secretary, Church of Ireland Board of Education;
• Paul Rowe, CEO, Educate Together;
• Shahzad Ahmed, Chairman, Islamic Board of Education.

STATEMENT
"We call upon the government to give urgent priority to, and deliver substantially increased funding for primary education in the budget to be announced on October 14th.

"Immediate action is critical not only for the maintenance of existing levels of service to children and to address long standing funding shortfalls but also because of the current rapid increase in student numbers.

"The provision of primary education is at the heart of how society judges the actions of our government and political representatives. The consequences of failing to invest in the education of the current generation of Irish children will be felt not only today but for many decades to come and decisions made in government buildings over the next two weeks will reverberate longer in education than in any other area of spending.

"Our primary schools are under-funded, under-resourced and under-staffed. Primary schools this year are being forced to depend on an ever increasing burden of fund-raising in order to meet basic costs.

"Most primary schools do not have the resources necessary to deliver modern ICT or sports programmes. There is continued concern over special needs provision and our schools continue to operate some of the largest classes in the OECD. These issues are having a direct and serious effect on the levels of education being delivered to children.

"It is urgent and necessary that this neglect is corrected, starting October 14.

"The overwhelming consensus of economic and political commentators asserts that the future of our society will be that of a 'knowledge' or 'thinking' economy. It is impossible to conceive of such a future without properly resourced schools.

"It is simply reckless to fail to invest in our education system at this time. Our primary schools form the foundation upon which the performance of entire system is based and unless we dramatically increase investment in primary education, Ireland will suffer both economically, socially and culturally.

"The primary years of a pupil’s school life are absolutely vital. Children only grow once. They only have one chance at their primary years. If they are educated well at this stage, it sets them up for their whole life. As a result, it is essential that we exert our best educational efforts during this phase of a person’s life. This means our best resources, our best school buildings, our best teaching skills, our best classrooms.

"It is simply not acceptable that we as a society continue to be prepared to accept the Cinderella status of primary education when we all understand its strategic importance for the future. This is a basic question of government priorities, of prudent planning for the future and is particularly important when there are difficulties with the public finances.

"Irish primary schools have been chronically underfunded by all governments since the foundation of the State. Governments have neglected the primary system at the best of times and worst of times. It is now imperative that this neglect is corrected. To fail to do so is straightforward political irresponsibility.

"Primary schools form children's basic attitudes and competencies. Lack of resources at the primary level result in poor levels of educational attainment that can only be addressed by costly and difficult interventions further up the system.

"It is essential that education is not regarded as a cost to the State coffers, but as the key revenue generator and cost reducer for future governments.

"Money spent hiring an additional professional in a disadvantaged area is more than justified if as a result two additional children become productive adults. The obvious corelation of crime statistics to those who have poor educational attainments means that huge costs to the State in running prisons could be reduced by better resourced schools.

"There is a mounting level of evidence for the need for our schools to promote active lifestyles to prevent expensive health issues in the next generation. How can this be done when so many of our primary schools have no sports halls or proper sports facilities?

"Schools with over crowded classrooms, without computers or ICT support cannot deliver the skills that the current generation need to compete in the modern world. Refusing to invest now will only build up greater costs tomorrow. This is neither a rational nor a wise response.

"It is for this reason that we call for a sustained increase in the funding for primary schools in the current budget.

"We would like to state that - as the representatives of the 21,000 volunteers upon whom the management of our primary school system depends - we have no personal or financial interest in making this call. We do not seek to increase our salaries or improve our working conditions. We do so purely on the behalf of hundreds of thousands of pupils in our national schools, their future and the future of our society.”

Antoinette Buggle
Bláthnaid ní Ghréacháin
Dónall Ó Conaill
Mgn. Dan O’Connor
Canon John McCullagh
Paul Rowe
Shahzad Ahmed

FURTHER NOTES
The key areas of neglect and under-funding are:

General Funds
The primary capitation grant remains approximately half that paid to second level schools. Prices of utilities and resources make no distinction for the age of children and there is simply no justification for this discrepancy.

Boards of management of our schools are reporting serious financial shortfalls as costs of materials, light, heat, water, phone and other necessities escalate. The education of children is being directly affected by these deficits as more and more time has to be devoted to fund-raising rather than school centred work.

Schools are increasingly being forced to economise on curriculum resources. There are often simply no funds at all for vital ICT equipment. We are sliding backwards at a time when we need to be making rapid forward progress. How will we be able to justify this state of affairs to the children we are failing today as they grow to adulthood?

These levels of fund-raising are demoralising both staff and volunteers. They are also socially divisive. Schools in well-off areas are better able to raise the required sums. Schools in areas where families have low levels of disposable income due to unemployment or crippling mortgages are becoming seriously disadvantaged. We profess to provide universal education but will that be the case in years to come if we do not act now?

If children are not exposed to modern ICT programmes they are not being prepared for a 'knowledge economy'. By failing to invest in ICT this year the government will dramatically reduce its revenues in 20 years’ time, and all talk of such a 'knowledge economy' will be seen as hollow rhetoric.

Schools without sports halls and equipment cannot properly develop the active life-styles that will be key to this generation's future health. This government is simply storing up huge future costs in health by not acting on this issue now.

Funding shortfalls are affecting schools in the following main areas:

• Light, heat and water;
• Telephone and data communications;
• Cleaning, secretarial and caretaking;
• Rents, insurance and accountancy;
• Curriculum materials including ICT, sports and music equipment;
• Books and staff development and substitution.

These shortfalls can be decisively addressed by an immediate doubling of the primary capitation grant from its current level of €178 to €356.

This should be accompanied by the immediate introduction of a single school payment system in which school managers should be able to fill in one multi-part form once per year and receive one payment. This will eliminate the vast array of complicated individual grants and introduce significant efficiencies.

Speaking in relation to these issues, Mgn. Dan O’Connor, representing the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association, draws attention to the severe social divisiveness of the de facto cuts that are being imposed on the primary system. Essentially there are three types of school:

• wealthy where shortfalls can be made up by fund-raising,
• a second group where funds are limited and the schools depend on the parish,
• a third type where no fund-raising at all is possible - such schools depend on the diocese and the religious congregations just to keep the school going.

The reality is that inner city schools are constantly being bailed out and religious trustees pay insurance for them. Figures show that all Catholic schools depend on parish and trustees for capital expenditure.

Referring to the impact of these factors on gaelscoileanna, Dónall Ó Conaill, Rúnai, Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán-Ghaeilge, states:

"The inadequate funding impacts very seriously on gaelscoileanna. The low level of the capitation grant places an undue burden on Boards of Management which are overburdened with meeting their financial commitments, resulting in other necessary
aspects of their responsibilities often being postponed.

"This is the greatest deficiency in the operation of our schools which has knock-on effects on the responsibilities and working of the Boards of Management and schools.

"Boards of Management are made up of committed and capable people entrusted with the management of our schools. A doubling of the capitation grant would remove a great burden from board members and allow more time and resources to be made available for other important aspects of the Management of our schools.

"The voluntary contribution to the work of Boards of Management is under valued and the provision of proper funding would be
a positive expression by the Government of the value they place on their voluntary contribution to Education which ultimately saves the Government a lot of money.”

Reiterating this point, Bláthnaid ní Ghréacháin, Ardfheidhmeannach, Gaelscoileanna, says:

“The low level of capitation grant affects every child and every school in the country. As a country we profess pride in our heritage of learning but we completely fail to back this up with spending to allow for the basic provision of equipment, facilities and services.

"The state has an obligation to provide education for all the nation’s children. If the capitation grant is not raised to at least double the current figure in the budget, then it will be failing in that obligation."

Speaking on behalf of the Special Schools, Antoinette Buggle, General Secretary of the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education states:

"The shortfall in the Capitation Grant to Special Schools is putting increased pressure on Boards of Management to make appropriate provision for children in their care, including children with Sever Behavioural Difficulties and complex health issues.

"The impact of the large number of children aged 12 plus leaving mainstream schools, who are seeking admission to special schools, has put further strain on already over stretched funds. Special units in mainstream schools are experiencing the same
difficulties.”

Speaking on behalf of the Educate Together Schools, Paul Rowe, CEO of Educate Together states:

“This is a critical juncture for Irish education. We must throw off the attitudes of the last century and have the confidence to invest in our future. Social and economic prosperity will not come without investment. The top priorities for this government
should be the doubling of the primary capitation grant, the reform of the grant system and sustained and increasing investment in our primary schools.”

School Buildings
The fast track programme this summer demonstrated that high-quality permanent buildings could be delivered efficiently for schools. This should lead the way to the elimination of the chronic large scale waste of taxpayers money on inefficient temporary accommodation. It should also see the provision of proper sports halls for all primary schools. In addition, this approach should be used to provide the large number of new school buildings that are necessary in the next two years.

Irrespective of the slowdown in inward population flows, Ireland has a rapidly increasing population of school-going children. A significant surge in pupil numbers is taking place and will peak in 2010 and 2011. This will require approximately 3,700 additional classrooms and many new schools. The State must ensure that there is sufficient funding to provide this additional accommodation whilst addressing the urgent needs of existing schools in inadequate buildings.

It must act to change planning legislation to ensure that sites for schools are transferred as a condition of planning permission for housing estates and do so in such a way to minimise the costs to the taxpayer.

Today’s slowdown in the construction industry should mean that the State can obtain best value for such capital projects. To fail to take advantage of this situation is to fail the taxpayer as well as the children in schools.

Special Schools
Special schools are primary schools where pupils remain until they are 18 years of age. In recent years, the population of special schools has changed and now includes children with severe behavioural difficulties and complex health issues. Behavioural difficulties can mean school property is destroyed and has to be replaced.

An increasing number of children aged 12 years plus who have attended mainstream schools are seeking admission to special schools. Complex health issues mean there is a need for additional cleaning services, barrier supplies for staff, waste disposal, defibrillator training, specialised training for special needs assistants and bus escorts, a high level of water usage and higher heating costs.

Special schools also have to bear the cost of a bus and its running costs. A bus is essential to a special school as they help prepare the students for adulthood. The cost of running a bus for a year in small special school was €20,000.

Most special school were set up by parents and friends and, consequently, do not have the backing of a parish. The children are brought to the school from a wide geographic spread and the difficulty in raising funds is increased in such cases.

In one school, three quarters of the school consists of prefabs. This is not unusual as children with Severe/Profound Learning Disabilities are now attending special schools set up for children with Moderate Learning Disabilities. How can prefabs be heated sufficiently to keep children warm who are on ventilators and on oxygen?

Prefabs waste money in heating and maintenance costs. That particular school has three nurses who work full time and while it does not pay the salaries, the materials needed to peg feed, to resuscitate and do what nurses do with physically challenged children must be funded.

Conclusion
Ireland lags behind OECD countries in the percentage of its wealth that is devoted to education. The best performing economies and the best performing education systems invest up to 8% of Gross Domestic Product on education (Finland). They have done so in all phases of the economic cycle - in downturns and upturns - in bear markets and bull markets.

The average investment in education of all the OECD countries is 6.5% . Ireland still only manages 4.5%.

If Ireland is to prosper in a globalised world economy, it must do so on the basis of an economy of innovation, creativity and pathfinding enterprise. Such an economy can only be based of a highly efficient, well-resourced education system. Now is the time to make the investment necessary to bring this about and to end a century of neglect and lack of investment in primary education.