PRESSURE ON the Government to reverse a controversial cutback in a key education service for vulnerable young people was building last night.
A Green Party TD has called on Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe to reverse the cut in the School Completion Programme (SCP).
Paul Gogarty wrote to the Minister yesterday, expressing alarm "at the creeping level of cutbacks in the education sector, most recently within the SCP''.
The Irish Timesreported yesterday that the Department of Education is seeking a 3 per cent cut in payroll costs in the SCP, which assists children at risk of dropping out of school.
In his letter, Mr Gogarty, who is also chair of the Oireachtas education committee, asked the Minister: "How can a socially beneficial service such as this programme (the SCP) be cut back at this time to any extent? It does not make rational sense.''
The overall cost of the SCP is €32 million. The programme includes such features as in-school support, including one-to-one mentoring, reading and an early-bird club.
Earlier yesterday, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan rejected claims that the education sector is suffering cutbacks due to the economic slowdown. The Minister pointed to the €8 billion which the Government is investing in the education sector annually.
In common with other departments, the Department of Education was working to achieve efficiencies but these should not be represented as cutbacks, he said.
But Opposition parties have been strongly critical of the cuts in the SCP.
Last night, Fine Gael children's spokesman Alan Shatter described it as "ill-thought out and ill-judged".
The SCP provides supports for vulnerable and disadvantaged young people who are at risk of leaving school early, particularly before the Junior or Leaving Cert.
In a sharp criticism of the Government's proposed cutback, Mr Shatter said: "In the current economic climate the Government, in implementing cutbacks, needs to differentiate between services which are essential and those that are not.
"It should not simply engage in a crash-and-burn approach which implements overall reductions across a broad range of sectors indiscriminately."
The proposed 3 per cent cutback on services for vulnerable and disadvantaged children is, he said, a classic example of a failure of judgment.
Senator Phil Prendergast of Labour said the SCP cutback beggars belief and called for a reversal of the payroll cut.
The programme, she said, has a "strong track record in addressing early school-leaving and the in-school support and one-to-one mentoring that it provides. Why Minister O'Keeffe now wants to cut back on the budget for the service is impossible to understand.
"There seems to be a pattern emerging in this round of Government cutbacks where agencies whose primary purpose is to advocate for the most vulnerable, and for those whose voices are not normally heard, seem to be first in the line of fire.''
