The flagging primary school building and refurbishment programme, which has been the source of an intense INTO campaign in recent months, is to receive a major boost through the introduction of public private partnerships, the Education Minister, Dr Woods, announced yesterday.
In his address to the INTO conference, the Minister admitted that many of the State's 3,200 primary schools are unsafe and pose a health and safety risk. The regrettable condition of these schools was, he said, the result of under-investment over the course of decades.
Dr Woods said it was "a myth" that a moratorium had been put on spending on the building programme last term. "It is not possible to wipe out in the lifetime of one Government the cumulative deficit of generations and also deal with emerging needs for the new schools and new facilities at the same time," he said.
The Government had, however, tackled the difficult problem of school buildings, he said. "In the current year we are looking at proposed spending of €154 million in the primary sector alone, again almost four times more than that allocated in 1997."
He also said a public private partnership scheme would help accelerate the building programme. "We are now preparing to invite tenders for further PPPs that will include, in particular, new primary schools in rapidly developing areas," he said.
The Minister hit out at schools which were not dealing with minor problems, such as broken toilets, through the devolved capital grant which now stands at €3,809 per school plus €12.70 per pupil annually. Senator Joe O'Toole said the monies allocated to primary schools were still insufficient. "There are 3,200 primary schools and approximately 500 post-primary schools. There should be six times as many projects at primary level for there to be equity. The answer is €250 million per year," he said.
Dr Woods conceded the tradition was a tendency to put investment into second level, but said: "I have adjusted this."
