Sir, - All parents of primary level students must be very disappointed with last week's Budget estimates. In spite of all the promises by individual politicians and all the rhetoric from the Opposition benches, primary education has again been left at the bottom of the pile.
Half the State's full-time students are at primary level, but only a quarter of the funding comes to primary. The dependence on fund-raising and voluntary contributions to provide schools with equipment necessary for the curriculum is inherently unfair.
Perhaps it is about time parents withdrew from the fund-raising effort and allowed the full extent of the problem to come to light. As long as they continue to subsidise the shortfall in the capitation grant the Minister for Finance is let off the hook. He demonstrates this very eloquently in the miserly increase he has allocated to the sector in the forthcoming Budget.
Straightforward funding is not the only area that remains neglected. There are still 200,000 pupils in classes of 30 or more and there are 8,000 children in mainstream schools who are in dire need of special support.
Due to the shortage of qualified teachers, thousands of pupils are in the care of untrained personnel. In 1997 42 per cent of the substitution hours were filled by unqualified people.
We are pleased that the industrial action planned by the teachers has been deferred until after December. Perhaps the Minister will take the time to reconsider his allocation of funds at primary school level, and will acknowledge that there is a very big gap between what he perceives as enough and what is really needed. - Yours, etc., Catherine Dunne,
Holy Child School Parents' Association,
Scoil an Linbh Iosa,
Ballycane,
Naas,
Co Kildare.