Madam, - Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has informed us that the Government is spending billions of euro on the education system, and yet there is little evidence of this.
The Minister announced recently that between 2000 and 2006 €2.5 billion will have been spent on infrastructure in thousands of schools. Yet schools are still raising funds for basic equipment. In the past two weeks I have had children call to my home seeking sponsorship and I have had my bags packed in my local supermarket by children all raising funds for school equipment. This is something that I would expect in an impoverished society, not one of the most successful economies in Europe. Yet this is accepted as the norm.
Another facet of this chronic long-term under-resourcing of public education is the acceptance that supermarket chains can provide computers and PE equipment for schools. If the State was doing what the Minister claims - properly funding the Irish education system - there would be no need for this. One does not need a sophisticated inquiry to see that education needs significantly more resources. Teachers, students and parents should not have to divert themselves from the business of education and learning to raise money for what should form part of a publicly funded education system. - Yours, etc,
JOHN FARRELL,
Member, TUI national executive committee,
Glenhill Road,
Finglas,
Dublin 11.