A rural community has rallied around its local school after an unusual request was made for each child to bring in their own toilet roll and towel to help deal with funding problems.
Donations from local businesses and families flooded in to Darver National School in Co Louth after the appeal last month. The case was discussed in the Dáil and has highlighted what school principals say is a wider financial crisis in education.
School principal Emily Scully subsequently retracted the plea to parents on bathroom supplies, and instead a fundraising concert was held on Tuesday.
However, other primary school principals have joined in drawing attention to what they say are insufficient funds from the Department of Education to cover routine maintenance costs.
RM Block
At present the capitation grant is €224 per student, which works out at €1.23 per head per school day. The same grant per student in secondary school is €386.
The grant is designed to cover costs such as insurance, heating, electricity, cleaning, maintenance and accountancy fees.
The grant is paid in two instalments, in June and in January, which can leave schools juggling costs depending on factors such as a cold winter that would need extra heating.
“It’s the elephant in the room,” said Edel Ní Bhroin, principal of the 175-student Scoil Aonghusa in Drogheda.
“It’s come to the stage where a lot of schools are cutting back on extras such as swimming classes or football because they can’t cover the bus fees,” she said.
“I know of one school with 170 pupils. It got €25,500 in January and by March had only €8,800 left having paid the insurance, light, heat and cleaning fees for just those three months. The costs of insurance alone can be up to €9,000. Costs of lighting and heating have more than doubled.
“It really is impossible for any school to meet running costs without holding fundraisers and asking parents for donations.”
Sarah Bradley is the principal of St Joseph’s National School in Drogheda, where her main worry is the maintenance of the school building which is almost 100 years old.
“We are a Deis [Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools] school so many of our parents may not be in a position to fundraise,” she said.
Deis schools are Government-supported institutions of high socio-economic disadvantage that receive extra funding and resources.
“The minor works grant is dependent on the number of students enrolled. If there is a hole in the roof, we have to employ a professional to do the application. We have 360 pupils and our numbers are stable but if our numbers decrease, we will get less money to maintain the exact same building,” she said.
Bryan Collins, who retired as principal of Scoil Naomh Feichín in Termonfeckin, Co Louth, last year, believes the stress over finances was one of the causes for early retirement in principals.
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“I’ve been talking to principals from all around the country who say that finances have never been as tight. It is a huge cause for stress and worry and we are losing too many good school leaders to the anxiety that inadequate funding is causing.
“The financial burden is going to fall back on families. It’s not a reflection on school management, it is a national problem that is being experienced in all schools.”
In Darver, Ms Scully said many parents did not realise the extent to which schools struggled with finances.
“I did ask parents to send in a toilet roll and hand towel with each of the 71 students here but then parents and local businesses got in touch and we were inundated with donations so I was happy to be able to row back on my request. We are okay now for the time being.
“Schools are slow to talk about the issue so parents aren’t aware of it. People are only too willing to help and we are so grateful for their kindness.”
In a statement, the Department of Education said: “The Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools, and the programme for government commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet the elevated day-to-day running costs.”
There will be an increase in the standard capitation rates paid to schools of €50 per pupil for primary schools from €224 to €274 and of €20 per student for post-primary schools from €386 to €406, the department said.
“Where a school contacts the department with concerns about finances, the schools is referred to the dedicated schools Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU), which will provide advice and support to the school,” it added.
“Where necessary, the FSSU can recommend an advance payment of capitation.”
