INTO conference: Some Dublin schools are now paying an annual insurance bill of over €10,000, the conference heard yesterday. Delegates were told that schools are being forced to organise an endless number of fundraising events like fashion shows and jumble sales, because of continued underfunding.
Ms Ann McMahon, a Limerick delegate, said there was no school in her area which is not collecting tokens "for this, that and the other" to augment resources. The stark reality, she said, was that State funding and capitation does not remotely cover running expenses.
She also detailed the severe funding crisis facing all schools:
One small rural school with 50 pupils had just over €2,000 left for educational purposes after most of their capitation grant of €7,000 was spent on insurance (€1,900), ESB (€1,488), oil and refuse charges (€900).
One large suburban primary school with 500 pupils spent €10,000 from its €58,000 capitation grant on insurance costs. Other costs included cleaning (€10-20,000), cleaning supplies (€6,000), telephone costs (€6,000) and electricity (€6,000).
Ms McMahon said each family in this school had been asked to contribute €2 per week to make up the shortfall between State funding and running costs.
She said parents and teachers should no longer be asked to spend their time cutting tokens from biscuit wrappers and detergent packets and organising fashion shows and other events.
"Our Taoiseach goes to China to extol our virtues as a nation that is passionate about education. But we would appreciate his attention to the fundamental issue of funding in primary schools."
The INTO wants the capitation grant for day-to-day funding increased from €129.58 to €250. On a per pupil basis, the Republic spends much less on primary education than most other OECD states.
The conference also heard sustained criticism of the Department of Education Inspectorate. Ms Ann Conlon (Tallaght, Dublin) said they "should be a mentor, not tormentor". Mr Brendan Taaffe, a teacher in Ballymun, Dublin said teachers were experiencing major problems in schools dealing with the inspectorate.
Meanwhile, the new INTO president, Ms Sheila Nunan, said principals in primary schools would be seeking the support of second-level unions in their demand for pay parity.
