BT Young Scientists Exhibition 2010

Posted on January 14, 2010 at 04:53 PM

BT Young Scientists 2010
Deputy Ruairi Quinn at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition with Fiachra Maguire from St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin.

This afternoon the Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore TD and Ruairi Quinn TD, our Education Spokesperson paid a visit to the BT Young Scientists Exhibition in Dublin's RDS. Ruairi has posted a few thoughts about the exhibition and education in general. Do let us know what you think in the comments section below. More images from this afternoon will be available soon on Flickr.

It was great to see the large numbers of young people at the Young Scientist exhibition in Dublin today. I was very impressed by the levels of enthusiasm and interest in science, particularly when it is often remarked how under-promoted the subject is. The students in our schools today are the key to Ireland's economic success tomorrow.

That is why it is so regrettable to see the effects of the government's cutbacks on our education system. Resources for education have been cut dramatically over the last three budgets. Funds for schools and new buildings are falling and teachers pay has also been cut repeatedly.

There are huge ramifications for our children and for the economic future of Ireland. The challenges facing the education system go beyond resources however. There is a huge need to plan for the future of our education system and the Fianna Fail - Green Party government seems incapable of this.

We have a growing school population yet the capital budget is not being spent, class sizes are increasing and the number of teachers being trained is falling. We need to safeguard funding for education. The Labour Party proposes a national target of 7% of GDP to be spent on education over the coming years. At present we spend less than 5%, which is below the average spend by EU and OECD countries. We should move towards 7% over an agreed period of time.

by Ruairi Quinn TD

Tagged with Education • ruairiquinn