The right to education, core value of the Labour Party
Issued : Friday 27 March, 2009
Statement by Ruairi Quinn TD
Minister for Education and Skills
Labour has five priorities for the primary and secondary education system as we face into difficult times.
1. Provide Employment for newly qualified young teachers.
2. Ensure that no existing primary school is closed or sold without the agreement of the Minister for Education and Science.
3. Create and emergency Building Programme to replace prefab classrooms and create much needed employment in the economy.
4. Develop diversity of choice at secondary level by recognising Educate Together as a Secondary School Patron.
5. Promote a nationwide Right to Read campaign to combat illiteracy in schools.
1. Provide employment for newly qualified young teachers.
This summer hundreds of newly trained school teachers will leave Training Colleges with little prospect of work. We cannot lose them to the dole queues - our education system needs them now more than ever. Labour demands the establishment of an emergency programme to provide part-time class room employment for apprentice teachers. This will give them invaluable work experience and give our schools the additional professional staff which they require. The details will have to be worked out by all involved but Labour's priority is education for our children and the employment for young teachers.
2. Ensure that no existing primary school is closed or sold without the agreement of the Minister for Education and Science.
For historical reasons the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church own more than 95% of our 3,200 primary schools. We will ensure that none of these schools will be closed or sold by the Church. The government must take steps, through negotiation, to arrange for the orderly transfer of ownership to the State so as to protect this important infrastructure. The existence of the school would be guaranteed and the rights of the existing patron would remain and be respected so as to ensure the continued operation of the school. Ownership of the schools would bring with it responsibility for maintenance and proper upkeep by the State.
3. Create an emergency building programme to replace the prefab class rooms and create much needed employment in the economy.
More than 50,000 primary students attend class in pre-fabs. Many are old and most are unsuitable. We need an emergency Building Programme to build modern class rooms and provide work for the thousands of unemployed construction workers. We must plan for the extra 100,000 students, a 20% increase of the 500,000 primary pupils, which we will have in the next ten years. A Building Programme is an economic investment for our future and it will help our economy to recover in the short term.
Labour is also committed to flexible solutions to building schools. Labour will support Boards of Management and their communities who wish to redirect rental money for prefabs into mortgages and the construction of permanent school buildings. This measure will save money, create construction employment and rapidly improve our education system by ending this government's appalling track record on school buildings.
4. Develop diversity of choice at secondary level by recognising Educate Together as a Secondary School Patron.
Our education system rightly respects and provides diversity of choice for parents and their children. Labour has always supported that principle. Today, the majority of primary schools being opened across the country are under the patronage of Educate Together. Fianna Fail is refusing to recognise Educate Together as a Patron for secondary schools. Many parents and teachers want this choice for their children at secondary level and Labour will deliver it. It is a valued principle of the Labour Party that our education system be pluralist and tolerant of all faiths and none. We will ensure Ireland's education system adapts to meet the needs of the 21st Century.
5. Promote a nationwide Right to Read campaign to combat literacy in schools.
The creation of a Knowledge Economy is the key to our future. Education is the foundation of success, both socially and economically. Young children who start in school Learn to Read so that they can Read to Learn. By the age of fifteen, as many as 20% of our secondary school students drop out of school, mostly because they are functionally illiterate. Many have difficulty with basic reading and writing skills. We will promote a national Right to Read programme involving parents, schools, local libraries and local authorities. Labour is already spearheading this essential campaign in Dublin and will continue to do so nationwide.
Conclusion
Education is about engagement, diversity, respect and commitment. We are lucky in that the vast majority of our educators are dedicated, hard-working and professional.
The right to education is a core value of the Labour Party.
Labour's education policy is based on the principle of universality. That means education should be free for everyone at the point of access. It is a guarantee of our liberties as individuals. For our society, education is the foundation upon which we develop our culture. For our prosperity, it is the investment that will build our knowledge economy and so secure our future. Now more than ever, we need an education system which helps people - not one that holds them back.
Labour in Government will undo the damage that Fianna Fail has done to our education system. Investment in education is the real safeguard of Ireland's future. Labour stands firmly behind that goal.
