Sir, – It was much remarked in the late 1990s and early 2000s that there was a direct correlation between the mushrooming in the fee-paying secondary school sector and the abolition of fees at third level in 1995. Fee-paying schools in certain catchment areas grew exponentially as some parents no longer had to put away money to send children to college. It is for this reason that the fee-paying schools cluster in urban areas where there is a university close by.
The fee-paying option is not open to parents in rural areas, and some provincial cities, who still have to pay to accommodate their kids in university cities and towns, which is an ever-increasing burden given rising rents. This is unfair to parents outside the cluster because they are not able to avail of a taxpayer-funded subsidy, which is limited to certain postal addresses in Dublin.
It is also clear that since the universal abolition of university fees, the subvention to fee-paying schools has siphoned funds away from the third-level sector, leaving our universities slipping in the global rankings. It also sets up an uneven playing field between State schools and fee-paying schools in the same catchment area – by siphoning off the cream of the crop, fee-paying schools are degrading State-funded infrastructure. – Yours, etc,
NEIL O’BRIEN,
Tulla,
Co Clare.
Sir, – Attempting to right the wrongs of our society by picking on private schools is not only inappropriate but an avoidance of reality.
The reality is that most parents whose children don’t attend private schools wouldn’t want them to. It’s not in the family ethos and, lest we forget, ethos is what we are talking about. Free education is a right and an entitlement that most are happy to avail of; that is, of course, if they can get places for their children, in a sector that successive governments have failed to resource adequately.
Out of approximately 733 secondary schools, 55 are fee paying. Were they to close tomorrow or collectively enter the already overstretched State system, the cost to us the taxpayer would be considerable. Sure, the teachers’ salaries in all schools are paid by the State. That really is an entitlement. However, the State in turn should be delighted that parents are providing additional facilities at no cost to the taxpayer.
For that, should “private” schools be penalised by losing control over their intake?
Is it really necessary to attempt to gain a “popular” advantage by eliminating the ethos of a small minority of schools that have years of tradition behind them, to satisfy some strange notion of equality? – Yours, etc,
JOHANNA LOWRY
O’REILLY,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.