Resources freed up by a significant reduction in the numbers attending school should be invested in education for children living in disadvantaged communities, the vice-chairwoman of the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed has said.
Ms Jenny Storey said the fact that 11,000 fewer children would start primary school for the 1997/98 academic year provided the Department of Education with an excellent opportunity to act on commitments in the White Paper on Education and the National Anti-Poverty Strategy. The money should be used to extend the Early Start Programme to all areas of disadvantage, she said. It should also provide a guidance service to primary school students to make them aware of the benefits of continued education.