Children 'are being made scapegoats of downturn'
IRISH education is being driven backwards by "vicious and foolhardy" cutbacks that have effectively made children the scapegoats for the financial crisis.
The warning came as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) was urged by education unions, including TUI, INTO, ASTI and IMPACT, to veto further cutbacks and demand the restoration of strategic budgets.
ICTU general secretary David Begg warned that the Government must not pass 'the threshold of decency' with its cutbacks -- but teacher unions claimed catastrophic damage had already been done.
TUI president Don Ryan claimed the Government had "cut the legs from underneath an already creaking education system".
"Our schools, our colleges and our children are hurting -- and will hurt more," he warned.
IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan warned that education was the key in Ireland to avoiding poverty and unemployment -- and access to third-level studies needs to be expanded not restricted.
Mr Nolan said that education offered youngsters the chance to escape poverty.
"In 2007, some 53pc of female early school leavers were unemployed compared to just 12pc of those holding a Leaving Cert," he said.
"Cutting investment in education simply does not make any sense -- in the long term, it will exacerbate the degree of economic disadvantage for families from low income backgrounds," he added.
- Ralph Riegel
