Sir, – In discussing the issue of fee-paying schools (“Meet the private school which dropped its fees”, Education, January 9th), it is prudent to consider the context for this sector’s existence.
A significant rationale for fee-charging schools not opting into the free scheme in 1967 was predicated by the necessity to meet operational costs, which could not have been achieved otherwise.
The cost to the exchequer is significantly lessened annually because some 25,000 students are enrolled in the fee-charging sector.
In 2014, the then minister for education was quoted in the Irish Times (“Rise of 4 per cent in support grant for Protestant fee-paying schools”, News, September 26th, 2014) acknowledging that if most fee-charging schools were to transfer to the free scheme, it would be at an increased cost to the taxpayer.
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Parents who choose to send their child to a fee-charging school are subsiding the overall cost of education across the State. The focus of any Government should be to provide all recognised schools with the necessary resources for the benefit of all students, whether within the fee-charging or the free scheme. – Yours, etc,
KIERAN SPARLING,
Corbally,
Limerick.