Spending on education in Ireland has failed to keep pace with recent economic growth, with the amount invested in primary and second-level education lagging behind that of other countries, a major new report by the OECD has found.
According to Education at a Glance 2004 Ireland ranks among the lowest of the 30 countries surveyed when it comes to spending on primary, secondary and education other than third level.
And, although it performs better at third level, the figures also show that although spending at third level has more than doubled during the period 1995-2001, spending at primary and second level has increased by just a third.
Spending in Ireland on second-level students was also found to be significantly lower than in other OECD countries.
The Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, last night acknowledged the findings of the OECD report.
"Ireland comes out well in many of the OECD's comparisons, which is a reflection of the quality of our schools and teachers and, especially, of the ability of our young people, " he said. "while our overall expenditure has greatly increased, so has our GDP and we are still well behind some countries in terms of the amount we spend on education.
"In particular, we need to focus on increasing the resources we allocate to primary education, since this is the area where our expenditure compares least favourably with that of many of the countries reported on by the OECD."
According to Mr John Carr, general secretary of the INTO, the figures provide "clear proof" that Government priorities in education were skewed in favour of the better-off.
"Investment in education is below the international average, but what we spend benefits disproportionately those who make it to third level," he said. "Because of under-investment in primary education too many children drop out early and face a lifetime of lower earnings.
"These children do not get any benefit from third-level investment. As long as we continue with this unequal system of funding there is no such thing as equal opportunity for all."
Mr John White, acting general secretary of the ASTI, said the publication of the report "confirmed yet again the "gross under-investment" in second-level education here.
Ireland was now "bottom of the league" in terms of spending on education relative to a country's wealth, he said, something which was underlined by the fact that the only OECD country which spends less than Ireland on each second-level student is the Slovak Republic.
"We are now a rich country but as far as spending on second-level education is concerned we act as if we are still a poor country," he said.
"Schools have made a major contribution to our highly-skilled workforce. If we wish to continue to build on current levels of social and economic development we must develop an adequately resourced and staffed education service which will best serve the interests of our young people."