INTO Pre Budget Submission
INTO Pre-Budget Submission
Thursday, 26 November 2009
In a pre-budget submission to the Minister for Finance the INTO has demanded funding in December’s Budget to implement recent education promises. Without funding, the union says those commitments will be worthless.
The INTO said promises not to increase the pupil teacher ratio in primary schools and to provide 200 extra teaching posts to schools badly affected by recent cutbacks must be funded in next month's budget. The union also called for Budget 2010 to restore grants abolished in last year’s budget such as the free book grant.
The submission calls for supply panels of teachers to be established throughout the country to provide substitute cover to children and continuity of employment to graduate teachers who otherwise will be forced to consider emigration or rely on social welfare.
Incoming General Secretary of the INTO, Sheila Nunan, said the recommendations relating to education cutbacks in the McCarthy Report must not be introduced. “Even a cursory examination by the Department of Finance of the proposal to close small schools would show that no money would be saved and that extreme hardship would result to many parents and children.”
The INTO said primary schools were the least well funded sector of education and were now facing increased running costs such as energy costs, waste disposal charges, water charges, cleaning and hygiene costs. “In many schools, parents now contribute more to general school running costs than the state through voluntary contributions and fundraising activities.” These increase inequity between schools,” said Ms Nunan.
In addition the union called for the development of a National Speech and Language Therapy service for pupils in primary schools and the immediate expansion of the National Educational Psychological Service.
The INTO said the plan in Budget 2009 for early childhood education was inadequate and said as priority measure, the Early Start Programme should be extended to all disadvantaged schools.
“Teachers along with other public servants accept that measures are necessary to resolve the public finances but strongly reject the approach being promoted by government which will involve public servants and those on social welfare carrying the entire burden,” said Ms Nunan. She said teachers and other public servants had already made a significant contribution to economic recovery which in 2009 amounted to 1.3 billion euros and even without additional measures in 2010 would amount to 2.4 billion euros.
She said Principal and Deputy principal teachers in primary schools had been badly treated by the failure to pay the Benchmarking award which was paid to other grades. “Benchmarking was made because increased responsibility and productivity delivered,” she said. “It must be honoured.”
The INTO submission fully endorsed the ICTU Plan for a better fairer way as the best approach to address the current economic crisis. The union called on government to ensure that Budget 2010 contained measures to retain employment and prevent further job losses, avoid cuts to personal incomes, protect services to the greatest extent possible, safeguard peoples’ homes and ensure that through a fair taxation policy that the wealthy in society make a fair and equitable contribution to economic recovery.
ENDS