POLITICIANS who ignore widespread concern among parents and the general public about inadequately funded schools will "face zero tolerance at the general election polling booths later this year", the head of the main secondary teachers union has said.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland president, Mr John Mulcahy, was presenting the results of an ASTI commissioned opinion poll which showed that 84 per cent of parents with second level students and 74 per cent of the general public believed schools needed more public money.
The poll, carried out by Lansdowne Market Research showed that 39 per cent of the members of the general public polled believed they needed a lot more money, and 35 per cent a little more. Some 51 per cent of second level parents felt their children's schools need a lot more funding.
The survey also found that 55 per cent of parents and 52 per cent of the general public believed that schools did not have adequate facilities and equipment. However, 69 per cent of parents and 66 per cent of the public were either very or fairly satisfied with the standard of second level school buildings.
Some 56 per cent of the general public believed that class sizes were either much too large (26 per cent) or a little too large (30 per cent). Thirty eight per cent believed they were just right. Sixty six per cent of parents believed class sizes were too large.
Satisfaction rates with second level teaching standards were high. Twenty nine per cent of parents and 24 per cent of the general public felt they were very satisfactory; 53 per cent of parents and 47 per cent of the public thought they were fairly satisfactory.
Mr Mulcahy said the survey results showed that education was associated in the public mind with "progress in life". "They appreciate that we do offer a very, very good education, and particularly a second level education in this country, and a large part of our current economic boom is due to that."
However parents were "tired of being asked to dip into their pockets" for facilities such as computers and school libraries, which the Government saw as "extras" but which parents saw as an essential part of education.
He said that in this age of high technology investment and employment, the Government should realise that the major reason, apart from grants, why foreign investors came to Ireland, was the quality of the education system. Spending on elements like information technology in schools should come from the Government's industrial promotions budget.