More cutbacks in education

national | miscellaneous | press release Wednesday September 24, 2003 16:33 by Gaz - libertarian

demsy helps the disadvantaged once again

dempsy helps the disadvantaged once again

some of this is taken from a labour press release...im not in labour...

the government has decided to slash the budget allocated to Vocational Education Committees for the provision of childcare for persons on VTOS, Youthreach and Senior Traveller Schemes by 37% nationally.


Brenden Howlin said, “These cuts are targeted at society’s most vulnerable, and effectively prevent them from continuing in education or acquiring qualifications. Without childcare, VTOS is a non-starter for a person dependent on one parent family payments."

Throughout the country, hundreds of parents and children depend on this money in order to achieve an education and at the same time have their children looked after. They will now be excluded from second chance education.

In Wexford, VTOS has no crèches and all childcare has to be sourced in the private sector. The approximate cost is €100 per child, of which the VEC has up to now given €63. The 50 or so parents reliant on this money may now have to dropout of their courses altogether, as they will not be able to pay for childcare.

Howlin said , “What sort of message is the government sending to these people? Single parents on VTOS are attempting to improve their employment prospects, thus reducing their dependence on the State. Yet the reduction in childcare will result in them abandoning their education mid-course. Those replacing them will be far behind the rest of the class, and progress for existing students will be slowed while new entrants catch up.

Under these cuts, everyone loses. Single parents lose money, and employment prospects, and continuing students lose the dynamic established in the early years of the course. Once more, it is the poorest who suffer from the government’s penny-pinching. I am calling for the restoration of the special childcare budget as an immediate priority.”