Irish Vocational Education Association

Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) welcomes commitments in Renewed Programme for Government but warns that it falls short of what is necessary to ensure future cohesion and prosperity.

IVEA General Secretary, Michael Moriarty, today welcomed several elements in the renewed programme for government as a clear acknowledgement, on the part of the government, that the education cuts imposed over the course of this year had seriously impacted on the capacity of schools to meet the needs of their students.

According to Mr Moriarty, "the following government commitments and acknowledgements would be good news for schools, students, parents and teachers.

The acknowledgement that education is the 'single most transformative location for public investment', that the government 'will prioritise education to the greatest extent possible' and do all within its 'power to protect education, at every level, from the ravages of the recession' and that 'those with special needs will be safeguarded'.
The commitment to implementing the EPSEN Act and to developing a costed plan 'to implement some priority aspects of EPSEN focussing on measurable, practical progress in education and health services for children with special needs'.
The commitment to 'immediately provide funding for 28 additional posts to bring the number of NEPS psychologists to 210' so that every school in the country will have 'access to the National Educational Psychological Service.'
The commitment not to increase further 'the pupil teacher ratio' and to providing 500 teaching posts between primary and second levels over the next three years' and to 'immediately start the process of providing 200 posts to those schools most seriously affected by the recent increase in the PTR'.
The commitment to maintaining standard capitation grants to schools, to providing an extra allocation to allow schools to provide grant assistance for books and a further allocation at second level to fund the Transition Year, Leaving Certificate Applied, LCVP, Physics, Chemistry, Home Economics, music activities and the Junior Certificate Schools Programme (JCSP), as per the September 2008 allocation.
The commitment to develop a 'new regulatory framework for school enrolment' - something IVEA has sought for some time so as to ensure that all schools implement enrolment policies that are genuinely inclusive - in word and deed.
The commitment to 'review the allocation of special needs assistants' so as to ensure that children with special needs are properly supported.
The commitment to continue the school building programme at current levels, to reduce the incidence of prefabricated accommodation and to retain current Summer Works Scheme and devolved grants.
The commitment to maintain current levels of NEPS funding and to maintain language support funding to schools and guarantee that extra language support assistants will also be available in schools where more than 50% of pupils do not speak English as a first language".

On the other hand, said Mr Moriarty, "failure to return the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) at second level to that which prevailed prior to the cuts will seriously impact on student outcomes, most particularly for students that are at the margin in any sense - students with special needs, students who need to take minority subjects in order to achieve to their full potential, students at risk of underachievement or early school leaving. While keeping the PTR at its current level may save money to day, it will only do so at a much greater cost to the State in the future".

According to Mr Moriarty, "notwithstanding general commitments in the programme for government to reskilling and upskilling the work-force, a major disappointment in the programme for government, is the failure to prioritise the upskilling of the thousands of young people leaving school with relatively low qualifications and young people with low qualifications losing their jobs. These young people are effectively unemployable and, if they are deserted now, they are at serious risk of losing their way.

Failure to address similar problems in the late 70s, 80s and early 90s resulted in the lives of a generation of young people being blighted and the creation of urban wastelands, which we still seek to reclaim, today, from permanent unemployment, hopelessness and crime.

The plight of the young, low skilled unemployed will haunt us for generations to come, unless government dramatically increases the number of PLC places available through VECS and other related programmes. The 1,500 extra PLC places that the government agreed to fund this year goes nowhere near to meeting the needs of those seeking upskilling. Indeed, 15,000 extra places, while still falling far short of what is necessary, would be essential if we wish to signal a serious interest in addressing the problem.

At IVEA's Annual Congress last month, IVEA President, Mary Bohan, called on Minister O'Keeffe to convene a meeting of government departments, such as Education and Science, Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Social and Family Affairs, together with representatives of the unions, the business world and the VECs, to explore creative ways in which all such bodies might collaborate to meet the needs of the young, low-skilled unemployed - having regard for the difficult financial circumstances in which the State finds itself. This invitation bears repeating in the context of the announcement of the renewed programme for government.

While it is feasible to put buildings and other physical assets in moth balls for a period of years, if a group of low-skilled young people are left to survive on the dole for a similar period, the task of reintegrating them into mainstream society, at the end of the period, will cost the State and society dearly".

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© IVEA 2012