12th June 2019
The DES has issued Circular 0034/2019, providing for the standard primary school capitation grant to move to €179 per pupil, from its previous level of €170.
This is the first positive change in capitation since 2009 when the grant was set at €200. It has stood at €170 since 2015, following successive cuts.
It is clear that the partial restoration of the previous grant level will not meet school funding requirements. That is why school funding is a priority for INTO in Budget 2020, alongside the need to reduce class size and to support school leadership.
On funding, in Budget 2020 we need:
- Primary school per-pupil investment in Ireland to rise in line with other developed countries (we are in the bottom half of the table of OECD countries for such funding now), and
- Restoration of the capitation grant to €200 per pupil immediately, and thereafter to move to the post-primary funding level (revised capitation funding for secondary schools is €309 per student in the analogous post-primary Circular).