Dear Editor,
The provision in Budget ‘09 which allows for €7.5 million to be cut from school book funds for DEIS * schools deals a crushing blow to the already severely disadvantaged. Hundreds of pupils across Galway city and county will have their school book grant either eliminated or at best reduced. Put cuts in teacher-pupil ratio, English language support teachers and Traveller teachers on top of this and it is clear that this FF-led Government is not according any importance whatsoever to disadvantaged schools and their pupils.
Look at the the reality of this cut. Its introduction means that many children will have no textbooks for the year and will not be able to keep up with the school curriculum at primary and second level. At second level, many of these pupils already feel alienated by the 'one size fits all' exam-driven system. Without textbooks they will have no chance.
This savage cut is seriously hard to take as it literally means that children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be deprived of the ability to learn. This is a severe injustice given that books are already less available and reading levels are significantly lower in disadvantaged areas. It is well documented that education is the way out of poverty. In educational terms this cut represents a form of misguided madness, an ill-informed judgement that commits disadvantaged communities further to ignorance and thus, poverty. Given that fewer people vote in poorer areas this is clearly the sign of a FF cut where political convenience rules over sound educational policy.
While parents from all socio-economic groups are attempting to come to terms with the callous cuts of Budget ’09, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds have been hit hardest by the ‘Lenihan income Levy’, increases in VAT and cuts in child benefit. Given that one first year student's book bill is in the region of €400 to€500, school books represent a phenomenal expense. This astonishing cutback will put unbearable pressure on those who are already hard pressed to keep afloat. In reality we know these kids will have to do without. Worse still, this cut will have a seriously negative impact on literacy problems, as well as school failure and drop-out rates in second-level schools.
A further cut in the reduction in funding for local libraries that support school libraries will also affect schools in disadvantaged area. All in all, these sinister cuts mean that the chances of children from disadvantaged areas' reaching third-level are further reduced as they are less likely to receive the appropriate schooling needed to get them there in the first place.
*DEIS = Delivery of equality of opportunity in schools. The aim of the DEIS programme is to ensure that the educational needs of young people in disadvantaged areas are met and addressed.
Senator Fidelma Healy-Eames, Fine Gael,
Seanad Spokesperson Education & Science
Maree, Oranmore, Co. Galway.
