Private school students have seven times more funding available for extra-curricular activities and facilities than students in the State sector, a Department of Education study has found. This figure rises to 10 times the State average for students in the nine most expensive fee-paying schools.
A report published today says private schools have an average of €1.48 million each to spend on additional teachers, capital improvements and extra-curricular activities. This reflects available funds after capital loan repayments and unpaid fees have been discounted.
State supports fore gone by private schools, including capitation grants, are also deducted from the final figure.
Fee-paying schools in the survey reported an average discretionary spending fund of €3,177 per student.
This reflects the funds available to private schools after deducting the State capitation grant awarded only to non-fee-paying schools. The average capitation grant from the State per student in non-fee-paying schools is €507 annually.
The State pays teacher salaries in both sets of schools. Much of the discretionary spend earned by fee-paying schools from fees is now spent on recruiting teachers privately to reduce pupil-teacher ratios.
Any discretionary funding which non-fee-paying schools have is usually raised through voluntary contributions and fundraising. The report does not state how much money these schools have for discretionary spending.
Nine schools that charge in excess of €6,000 per annum have on average €2.2 million in discretionary income each year, according to the report. The average final discretionary income per student in these schools is €5,281.
The survey, which covers all 55 fee-paying schools in the State, was commissioned in the context of a recommendation of the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes (the McCarthy report) to cut State support for fee-paying schools.
Saving
The 2009 McCarthy report proposed a 25 per cent reduction in support by way of an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio from 18 to 28 in all fee-charging schools. The move, according to the report, would represent a €25 million saving for the State
The pupil-teacher ratio of fee-charging schools has increased from 18 to 21 since 2009 and will be 23 in September. This compares to 19 to 1 in non-fee-paying schools. Further cuts in public expenditure are expected over the next three budgets.
Today?s report estimates that an increase of the order recommended by the McCarthy report (28:1) would cost the private schooling sector about €20 million.
The 55 schools would continue to have an average of €61.7 million in discretionary funding available to them, even after contributing the €20 million.
The survey also studies the projected impact of further cuts to Protestant schools. ?The examination does not provide evidence that the group of Protestant schools should be exempted from any measure being applied to fee charging schools,? the report concluded.
