Teachers forced to sell muffins to fund struggling school sector
A difference in funding arrangements, means that a 400-pupil voluntary secondary school receives ?43,200 less each year than other second-level schools, such as community or vocational, of the same size.
Overwhelmingly, voluntary secondary schools are those run, or previously run by the religious orders.
Joint Managerial Body (JMB) general secretary Ferdia Kelly said voluntary secondary schools received on average of ?108 less per pupil towards their running costs than those in the other sectors.
Mr Kelly cited the case of Michael Blanchfield, principal of St Paul's CBS, Brunswick Street, a disadvantaged area of Dublin's inner city, which had no access to voluntary subscriptions from parents or any kind of significant fundraisng.
With a soaring increase in heating and power bills in the past year and annual insurance cost eating up one third of the basic capitation grant, the school was "living off its wits".
Mr Blanchfield said he and his secretary sell muffins, cereal bars and water during break to raise about ?2,000 to ?3,000 per year for the school. "We have to do it," he said.
In another school, Scoil Pol, Kilfinane, Co Limerick, the heating system has been struggling to cope in recent months, with two of its three pumps out of action.
At Deerpark CBS in Cork city centre, half of the Department of Education grants of ?113,575 goes on caretaker wages, insurance costs and heating oil.
Mr Kelly asked why should a school have to resort to penny pinch by not turning on heat, spending little on curricular resources and putting off necessary maintenance.
The funding is supposed to cover cleaning, heating, insurance, power, classroom materials, caretaking, secretarial supports and local authority charges.
Mr Kelly, who was speaking at the annual JMB conference, said the Department of Education had acknowledged the discrepancy, but no time scale had been set to achieve parity of funding.
- Katherine Donnelly
