Government should introduce a student loan scheme for 3rd level students in Budget 2012. There are strong arguments from an equity perspective that those who benefit from higher education, and who can afford to contribute to the costs of their higher education, should do so.
This principle is well established internationally and is an important component of funding strategies for many of the better higher education systems across the world. 3rd level graduates earn more than non-graduates throughout their lives. It is only fair that they contribute to this advantage which 3rd level provides.
Social Justice Ireland believes that Government should introduce a system in which
In this system
Such a scheme would reduce Government expenditure by €445m on a full-year basis. Social Justice Ireland believes that of this saving €120m should go towards primary level and adult literacy programmes.
Education can be an agent for social transformation. We believe that education can be a powerful force in counteracting inequality and poverty while recognising that, in many ways, the present education system has quite the opposite effect.
According to Social justice Ireland, recent studies confirm the persistence of social class inequalities which are seemingly ingrained in the system. Even in the context of the increased participation and economic expansion of much of the last decade, the education system continues to mediate the vicious cycle of disadvantage and social exclusion between generations. When viewed in an international context, the most striking feature of investment in education in Ireland, relative to other OECD and EU countries, is our comparative under-investment in primary education relative to international norms (not to mention our very limited public funding for early childhood education). Irish investment in third-level education, which is widely regarded as inadequate, is approximately at the OECD average.
Primary School Funding
However, our public investment at second level and, in particular, at primary level is substantially below the OECD average and is among the lowest of all OECD countries when the expenditure is standardised as a percentage of GDP.
Social Justice Ireland proposes that €100m of what the Government would save through the changes proposed above should be allocated to primary education.
Adult Literacy
The Department of Educations policy for tackling literacy problems among adults is simply unacceptable accordidng to Social Justice Ireland. As part of the 2007 Government’s National Action Plan for Social Inclusion a target for adult literacy policy was set stating that “the proportion of the population aged 16-64 with restricted literacy will be reduced to between 10%-15% by 2016, from the level of 25% found in 1997” where “restricted literacy” is defined as level 1 on the International Adult Literacy Scale. People at this level of literacy are considered to possess “very poor skills, where the individual may, for example, be unable to determine the correct amount of medicine to give a child from information printed on the package” (OECD).
In numerical terms this implies that the aim of government policy is to have “only” 301,960 adults with serious literacy difficulties in Ireland in 2016.
We re-iterate our previous claims that this target is illogical, un-ambitious and suggests a complete lack of serious interest in addressing this problem.
The current target on adult literacy should be revised downwards dramatically and the necessary resources committed to ensuring that the revised target is met.
Social Justice Ireland proposes that an additional €20m should be allocated in Budget 2012 as the first tranche of additional funding to address adult literacy issues.
The issue of literacy has been contentious in recent times. Today NALA has published new research showing that 40% of Irish people have difficulty with numeracy. The Department of Education’s policy for tackling literacy problems among adults is in the opinion of Social Justice Ireland simply unacceptable. As part of the 2007 Government NAPinclusion document a target for adult literacy policy was set stating that “the proportion of the population aged 16-64 with restricted literacy will be reduced to between 10%-15% by 2016, from the level of 25% found in 1997” where “restricted literacy” is defined as level 1 on the International Adult Literacy Scale. People at this level of literacy are considered to possess “very poor skills, where the individual may, for example, be unable to determine the correct amount of medicine to give a child from information printed on the package” (OECD).
As table 1 shows, in numerical terms this implies that the aim of government policy is to have “only” 301,960 adults with serious literacy difficulties in Ireland by 2016. (These calculations are based on the lowest CSO population projection for 2016. The CSO’s calculation is based on their M0F2 demographic assumptions.)
Table 1:
Irish Government Adult Literacy Target for 2016
Adult population (under 65 yrs) in 2016
3,019,600
10% “restricted literacy” target
301,960
15% “restricted literacy” target
452,940
Source:
Calculated from CSO (2008:27) using the lowest CSO population projection for 2106 – the M0F2 population projection assumption.
The question needs to be asked, how can policy aim to be so unambitious? How will these people with serious literacy problems function effectively in the economy and society that is emerging in Ireland? How can they get meaningful jobs? In reality achieving this target could only be interpreted as representing substantial and sustained failure.
Overall, Social Justice Ireland believes that the government’s literacy target is illogical, un-ambitious and suggests a complete lack of interest in seriously addressing this problem. This is totally unacceptable in a society which, for the first time in its history, has the resources to tackle these problems effectively and comprehensively. This target on literacy should be revised downwards dramatically and the necessary resources committed to ensuring that the revised target is met.
Social Justice Ireland believes that the government should adopt a new and more ambitious target of: reducing the proportion of the population aged 16-64 with restricted literacy to 5 per cent by 2016; and to 3 per cent by 2020. This will still leave approximately 150,000 adults without basic literacy levels in 2016. However, this target is a more ambitious and realistic in the context of the future social and economic development of Ireland.
Some years ago an OECD survey found that a quarter of the Ireland’s adult population performed at the very lowest level of literacy. More recently, the OECD found that Ireland’s fifteen-year olds have the fifth best literacy rates out of 27 OECD countries. The reality appears to be that the literacy levels among Ireland’s school-going population is much higher than among the population generally. But this hides a more telling fact.
A 2004 report prepared for the Department of Education examined literacy standards in disadvantaged primary schools. This report by the Education Research Centre at St Patrick's College, Drumcondra found that more than 30 per cent of children in those schools suffer from severe literacy problems. Furthermore, it concluded that only a small minority of 12-year olds from these areas take a positive view of their own reading achievement (Eivers et al, 2004). A similar report by the same authors published in late 2005 reaffirmed these findings and also noted that in some poorer areas up to 50 per cent of pupils have literacy difficulties (Eivers et al, 2005).
Both reports highlight the two-tier pattern of Ireland’s educational outcomes. Many do very well. But it is also clear that a great many are being left behind. As identified in a 2003 report by the Department of Education and Science, “the worrying tendency for educational disadvantage to cluster in specific schools/areas and to be reproduced across generations raises serious equity issues and highlights the need for effective educational interventions”(2003:7).
Social Justice Ireland published its latest analysis and critique of education and educational disadvantage in Ireland as well as its policy proposals in the annual Socio-Economic Review published in April, 2010. The full text can be accessed here.