-As Party launches ‘50 Steps to a Better Education System’

The Green Party launched its education policy today with the stark message: ‘If people want to see real improvements in our education system they will need to vote Green in the next election’. Green Party General Election Candidate for Wicklow said that in the past year, the Party had set the agenda in education:

“No other party has come close to producing an education document as detailed and as fully costed as ours. This fact has been recognised in public and in private by the various education partners and representative bodies. The Green Party has proven it is serious about education; we will be driving policy as part of any future Government.

“The current Government has failed to plan for population changes. They have failed to deliver on class sizes. They have failed parents and children with their half-hearted approach to funding education. Despite our economic success, we remain near the bottom in terms of educational investment. The cost of tackling crime and locking up offenders at €500,000 a year per young offender highlights the flawed thinking in this Government, who are willing to leave Ireland second lowest in the EU league for class size for the sake of a modest increase in funding for education.”

“Education is a key policy area for the Green Party. Much greater investment is needed along with greater relevance for the new challenges young people will face in the future. Teacher training needs to change, given the cultural diversity and range of disabilities in the school population. Schools will need to teach resilience to the changing climate and self-reliance in the absence of future oil supplies. Ireland will only succeed in becoming a fit, fair society and a lean, green economy if schools and colleges are empowering our people to bravely make the transition to a prosperous post-oil Ireland.

“People want leadership on education issues and this document delivers. I believe that voters concerned about education issues will appreciate the substance in this document and will give us a strong mandate to deliver the changes required on their behalf.”

The Green Party's 50 Steps to a Better Education System has been rolled out over the last 12 months. At its heart is a commitment to provide an additional €1 billion in targeted funding for education above current expenditure levels. “We believe that this targeted investment makes sense and will not only deliver improvements but return savings over the medium term,” says Cllr de Burca.

“It is not good enough to simply criticise the Government. You need to put forward a viable alternative vision for education. The Green Party, alone of all the parties, has done this with a clear set of costed, achievable objectives. Our 50 Steps show clearly that education is a core priority for the Green Party and we are committed to delivering real improvements.”