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THE EDUCATION SYSTEM will be boosted with an extra 2,500 teachers according to today’s Budget.
The ambitious plan, which includes 900 resource teachers, will come as part of €9.5 billion in education spending in 2017.
That figure represents 16% of the national budget.
The Budget as announced today will see the creation of 2,515 additional posts in schools in 2017, including 900 additional resource teachers and 115 additional special needs assistants. The remaining 1,500 posts are additional mainstream teaching posts arising from various initiatives.
Overall, the Department of Education and Skills’ budget will increase by €458 million.
An initial additional €160 million in total funding has also been committed to higher education over three years, the first significant expansion in government spending on higher education in a decade.
On top of the announced posts, over 3,000 students from disadvantaged groups will benefit from an additional package of €8.5million to support more disadvantaged students, including lone parents and Travellers, to attend higher level.
This includes the introduction of a full maintenance grant worth almost €6,000 from September 2017 for 1,100 postgraduate students in the lowest income category.
There is also funding to implement the recent agreement reached with the TUI and INTO on salary increases for new entrants and €690 million for building and renovating schools.
Education Minister Richard Bruton said that the funding was welcome.
“Education is at the heart of everything we are trying to deliver as a government – a strongly growing economy sustaining a fair and compassionate society.”
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Exactly where are they going to put the new teachers?? In prefabs in already overcrowded playgrounds?
We are already seeing a massive over supply of teachers and jobs being cut up into scraps . There should not be 4 teachers on 5 hour contracts in place of 1 on the full 22. There is already no job security in teaching with the average teacher coming out of college bouncing from maternity leave cover, sick leave, career break from anywhere between 5-7 years before securing a CID in a school . How are you going to create these jobs ? Bringing class size down would be nice , but the buildings are not big enough for that . Build schools like the one that protested this week who have been waiting 10 years for a building ? It’s all talk and until I see an actual plan to create more jobs that doesn’t casualise teaching any further I will remain skeptical. Kids do best when there is continuity , my kid has had 4 different maths teachers in 3 years, it’s not good enough none of them are there long enough to get to known the kids properly
As with all budgets the devil is in the detail. Tucked away in the education budget is that a new model for allocating Learning support and resource teaching positions will be introduced in September 2017. This “model” will see schools given a set allocation of teaching jobs which can’t be increased if the needs of the school increase in the future…money saving for government
That sounds like great news except that our children and children’s children will have to pay those hefty pensions in the future. The government should sort out public sector pensions before any new hiring. Those pensions are just an albatross around the neck of the taxpayer present and future.
@Margie Murph: The public sector pension scheme was changed a few years ago for new entrants. Their pensions will be based on career average instead of final salary which should mean some savings for future hard pressed tax payers!
God forbid the people who educate our children might need a pension!
@Margie Murph: Teachers pay into their own pension. It is deducted from their salary, so it doesn’t cost the tax payer anything. Infact, a teacher will probably pay more money into the public pension pot than they will get out. Also, teachers are not entitled to the state pension, but still pay PRSI.
@Gerard McDermott: I question your figues there Gerard. For someone to receive a 25k annual pension in a private scheme they would need a pension pot of at least 500k. That doesn’t even include the tax free lump sum. Don’t think there’s too many teachers contributed that much over their careers!
Not a maths teacher are you?
Lol Margie, get back into your box my dear.
Reg, you would nerd yo take that assertion up with both Ernst and Young anTrdent Consulting. The first actuarial report concluded that the old pension contribution would pay for a P.S. pension until age 85 and the second that new teachers would overpay for their pension. Neither included the PSPL which adds a furter contribution of 7 per cent on average.
they were also based on contribution from the public service pension fund. the levy is intended to cover the shortfall, so while both contributions plus the existing put will produce a sustainable pension fund, the main component comes from the taxpayer, not the teacher contribution (all you have to do is look at how much a private sector employee and employer contributes to a defined contribution pension and you should see the massive difference)
@margi Murphy your children, and your children’s children will need education, unless you are home schooling them? Which by reading some of your comments on the journal I would highly advise against doing so.
FFS we can’t afford this !
have your say