After feeling a fortnight of public ire, two Government councillors in Galway broke ranks to publicly to state their opposition to the highly controversial cuts to education proposed in the Budget.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Mary Leahy has condemned the cuts to education in the Budget as “unnecessary”, while Green Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin said his party is determined to make the Government reduce class sizes before the Finance Bill makes the Budget law.
Under Budget 09, five main cuts are proposed which have caused enormous anger and concern - increases in the pupil-teacher ratio; the removal of supervision cover in secondary schools which will lead to less sport, music, drama, school shows; removal of the uncertified substitution cover; removal of the home-school liaison co-ordinator; and the introduction of a cap on English language support teachers in urban-based schools.
While Ireland was facing “severe difficulties” due to the global recession, Cllr Leahy there were “other ways to make the very necessary savings” . She described as a“retrograde”, the proposal to remove substitution cover for uncertified sick leave. “The new proposals will encourage teachers who would ordinarily be out for one or two days to take at least four days in order that this leave will be certified.
“ For the taxpayer, it will ultimately cost more. Where’s the money saving in that?”
She has also come out to condemn the increase in class sizes.
“When I heard that the increase to class sizes was going up to 28 I thought, that’s just an increase of one, it’s not so bad,” she said, “but then it became clear that 28 was the lowest limit and that class sizes could be increased by far more than that.
“Education should not be seen as something to target,” she said. “Money should have been found in other areas. You have to focus on education so that when the economy picks up the next generation is ready to profit from it.”
Cllr Niall Ó Brolcháin admits that bringing the Budget forward was a mistake. “It was rushed and there were serious mistakes in it,” he said. However the Greens remained committed to reducing class sizes “in the long term” and the party was working to get Fianna Fáil to reverse the increase to the pupil-teacher ratio.
Cllr Leahy, along with her Galway City East colleague Cllr Michael J Crowe, and Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív will be arranging meetings with schools to hear teacher and parent concerns and see if solutions are possible.
