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Third level students will receive a payment of approximately € 250 each over the next year to help offset progress towards greater online learning.
It’s one of several educational measures in the 2021 Budget that includes the smallest class sizes on record at the elementary level, hundreds of additional teachers, thousands of additional additional education places, and enhanced scholarships for graduate students.
The combined primary, secondary and tertiary education budget is expected to exceed € 12 billion for the first time.
One-time payments for third-level students will cost a total of € 50 million, or about € 250 each, and will be provided to students who have paid the € 3,000 student registration fee or who have received Susi scholarships.
Assistance
Continuing and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said the payment was in recognition of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on this group.
“For the students, this year has been like no other. Most of the university will be online during this semester and we will provide financial assistance through a fund of 50 million euros, “he said.
In addition, improved postgraduate supports will be applied starting next year with maximum payments that will rise from 2,000 to 3,500 euros.
The income threshold for eligibility for these grants will also increase, from € 31,500 to now € 54,240.
In response to the need to retrain and improve the skills of people affected by the pandemic, a fund of € 120 million will be allocated to 50,000 additional education and training places, along with a new rehabilitation training plan and a climate action improvement plan.
The apprenticeship incentive scheme, in which employers are paid to hire apprentices, will be expanded and nearly € 30 million will be invested in research to support researchers, develop capacities, support Covid research and strengthen North-South research links.
Harris also said his department will conduct a broader review of student scholarships to ensure part-time students and others can receive support.
The total budget for the newly created Department of Continuing and Higher Education will be 3.3 billion euros next year.
Class sizes
Education Minister Norma Foley will announce her department’s assignment details Wednesday.
However, it will include an additional 565 additional teachers, bringing the average class size at the elementary level to an all-time low.
The average student-teacher ratio at the elementary level will drop from 26 students to each teacher (26: 1) to 25 students to each teacher (25: 1) next year.
These new hires will include 300 elementary teachers, along with 265 high school teachers who must cope with demographic pressures.
Record funding of € 2 billion will also go to help children with special educational needs.
It will allow the hiring of 990 additional assistants for special needs and just over 400 additional teaching positions.
There will also be funds for teacher training to address the shortage of high school teachers in math, physics and Spanish.
In general, the budget for primary and secondary education will be 8.9 billion euros.
Most of the funding will go towards the salaries of thousands of special needs teachers and assistants.
There will also be equity funding for 145 new school buildings, along with partial funding for 20 higher education construction projects.
Reaction
Opposition parties cautiously welcomed the measure to reduce the number of classrooms at the primary level, but criticized the absence of measures to alleviate the costs faced by parents.
Labor education spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD said: “The Government had the opportunity to make free books a reality for all schools, but instead it did not even expand the pilot plan that began in September.”
The National Organization of Teachers of Ireland said the move to reduce class sizes at the primary level was “necessary and welcome”.
INTO Secretary General John Boyle said: “While tens of thousands of children will continue to learn in classes above the EU average, we are now at least on the right track. This change will have a positive impact on the landscape of primary education. “
However, the Irish Secondary Teachers Association said the package was “a sticky plaster for schools and does little to address the prolonged underfunding of Irish second-level education”, while the Irish Teachers Union he warned that a hiring of teachers in crisis in the second level will continue until “the scourge of wage discrimination is eliminated.”
At the third level, the Association of Irish Universities said that while there were some positives, there were many “missed opportunities” in areas such as research and refurbishment of university campuses.
The Irish Student Union said funding ignored barriers to higher education for students in favor of “one-time, one-time funding”, while the Irish Federation of University Teachers warned that no places could be offered additional universities in a context of restricted personnel.
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