Sir, – Why am I not surprised that 10 out of the top 20 feeder schools are private? (“Feeder Schools 2017”, December 5th).
After the publication of this year’s list there is a deafening silence. Have we come to accept this inequality in our education system as a permanent fixture?
Is it not time to cut these State-supported private schools free from the public purse and let them pay their own way? I am sure they will manage fine without subsidies from the rest of the population who can never avail of their services. I was under the illusion that “public spending” was just that – money spent for the greater good of the general public.
Can the Minister for Education please explain to the rest of us how we all benefit from the privilege bestowed upon the individual pupils sitting in those classrooms?
We in Ireland like to compare ourselves to other best practices around the world but when it comes to the paying of teachers’ salaries in private schools you will find that no other country to whom we like to compare ourselves does this. We are alone in our double standard and two-tier publicly subsidised education system.
Our Government should provide a place for each child in a State school and beyond that if their parents wish for something different they should incur the full cost.
That is a path to a more just society, and we must change the current system of funding if we want greater equality in our society. – Yours, etc,
SHEILA MAHER,
Goatstown,
Dublin 14.