Union slams failure to spend on education

Not investing in education is an attack on the most vulnerable people in society, according to Seamus Lahart, head of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland.

Speaking at an event to mark the publication of the OECD’s Education At A Glance 2018 study, Lahart said the disadvantaged suffer when budgets are cut. The report shows that Ireland is ranked among the lowest in Europe in terms of investment in education, with spending totalling just 3.3 per cent of GDP compared with an EU average of 4.2 per cent, and an OECD average of 4.5 per cent.

In higher education, Ireland’s student-teacher ratio was 21, compared with the OECD and EU22 averages of 15, Lahart said.
“At secondary level, our spend is just 1.1 per cent of GDP compared with the OECD average of 2 per cent,” he said. Spending on education, he added, pays later in dividends to society from taxation of higher incomes.