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Green Party, 4 of 50 Steps
Read more about: Education, Green Party
Over the last few weeks the greens party’s 50 steps for education has been slowly moving along. Currently it is at step 4
So here is a run down on the steps 1. Fund education. Vastly increase the funding of education.
Areas such as adult education, further education, special needs education and the primary and second level sectors are all under-funded. Creating a fourth ‘PhD’ level is all very fine, but many children are lost to the system before they even go into second level. This should have been only one part of a multi-level, multi-annual investment programme. What about the further education sector and the PLCs, for example?
As anyone who reads anything I write education is a big thing for me and indeed the most important for the country even above health spending. I believe that money needs to be invested in education and it is indeed just that an investment. It will pay itself back. For instance it is generally recognised that education level and wage levels are comparable. This would lead to not only higher tax revenues but also taking people out of the medical card system. So the summerise I agree with them on this. But with out concert proposals simply saying we will spend more doesn’t do it for me. So moving on to the next step.
Step 2
Education Welfare Board Investment
This is a lot more of a substantial proposal they would provide the
National Education Welfare Board with €28 million annual funding to enable it to recruit its full complement as recommended in the Rochfort report and fully carry out its statutory obligations under the Education Welfare Act.
Just encase you are wondering (from the green party) the National Education Welfare Board is the statutory body charged with ensuring that every child attends school regularly, participates in training, or receives an education in the home or through other means. For anyone that has wandered around a city at 11:00 on a week day and seen the amount of uniformed kids wandering about will know that this is a big problem. It might in fact be an issue for the Gardai (someone can fill me in on truancy laws). If we can’t keep kids in school how are we going to help them?
Step 3
Basically what it is
In Government the Green Party would ensure that all new school buildings would as far as practicable be multi-use facilities shared between school, sporting and community organisations via a system of ‘Integrated Public Partnership’ involving the Department of Education and possibly other Departments, the local authority in question, the school board of management/patron body and community stakeholders.
What that means is that the community would share the facilities of the school. I.e. instead of building a community hall and a school hall. Just build an excellent school hall and use it also as a community hall. This happens in many small towns and villages already in the countryside. However I can not comment on city schools. It has some merit and indeed might reduce the cost of providing facilities in communities. However what will happen the cost of insurance and other such things is another story.
Step 4.
Annoy builders./Developers should build new schools as condition of planning permission
This is the latest step and it is guaranteed to annoy the developers
In Government the Green Party will ensure that land for schools is made available by developers as part of the conditions for planning permission/permissions in a designated area. The developers will also have to build a multi-use facilities to Department of Education and local authority specifications or else cover the costs of same as part of their development levies.
Now this is a controversial one. Wait for this to make the paper headlines. However I have to say I more or less agree with it. One of the biggest determinates of house prices are the proximity of services especially schools. Thus it would be in the interest of developers to have good school facilities in the area as it would increase house prices. Although the majority of these housing estates are being built in the commuter belts. Thus as parents are leaving early in the morning they are having to bring children to schools on their way to work especially for young children. I remember when I was young I would arrive at school early sometimes at about 7:30. Now what happen to me was the caretaker would open the school and throw a football out and me and the other early kids would spend a happy hour of 6 (class) against the rest. However in our compo sue culture we have now. Many schools would not let children on their grounds that early. So as parents have to be on the road early they bring their kids to schools near them. Unless primary schools start a allowing children in at early times. Then this proposal has little use for primary school. However for children of secondary school age who are mature enough to get the school bus, cycle, or walk to school. Then this can work.
The Green Parties idea of a 50 step program of slowly unveiling their proposals is very interesting. If they had been realised in one releases then they would get one write up in the newspaper and then disappear. However this way they can keep it in the newspapers for longer. Interesting tactic that might pay dividends.
1. I wonder at what step the 1 Billion promised in step one gets costed. For the Greens are notable open to the usual tax and spend bashing.
2. I like the idea of having it stipulated builders build amenities, but we have something like this for affordable housing and its not happening. The numbers are abysmal compared to build rates.
3. Should the Greens address the issue of who runs and owns schools, right now we finance a system of private operators with their own ethos, is this the best way? Are the schools being built going to be handed over to the Churches etc.? Should they be?
on 1 it is an excellent point that I should have picked up. I guess it could come from pritivising Bus eireann,the ESB and Aer lingus. But will they do that?
on 2 The problem with the affordable housing is that they have a get out clause where they can give the council a check rather then build the house.
on 3. I would say 50 steps will never address it.
on 3, i feel they might have to. The issue of who gets to use the buildings is central to the whole idea of inclusive education. Should they be set aside for Techs etc? Or a new system be set up, or farmed out to religious orders again?
Does giving them to orders give the orders a veto on what the community uses the facilities for?
Firstly I agree with Simon, education is number 1, numero uno. We would not have the Celtic Tiger without having such large numbers of well educated people. That been said we cannot rest on our laurels and sit back, the education system must adapt if we are to continue to be successful, and fair play to the GP for proposing a strategy.
We have to recognize that nowadays education is not something that happens when you are young. It will be a lifelong process so that we will continue to prosper as jobs and skills move around the world. Therefore making more use of schools is a great idea.
Now the way we fund and build primary schools in this country is a joke. Unfortunately they are controlled by two of the most conservative organizations in the country, namely the Catholic church and the teachers unions. News alert! the Catholic church is in decline and we no longer live in a uniformly Catholic Country.
Because times have changed, there is now no model for building schools in Ireland. Especially in area of rapid growth. We don’t know how do to it. This worries me because it takes years for these kind of things to get worked out. Years for planning, finance, legal challenges, Prime Time reports, tribunals etc.
Schools are too important to be left up to shaky organizations such a the church to take care of. It is one of the few things that MUST be done by government. There is no option. At least the Greens are acknowledging this maddness.