The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) knows from their work in communities that education funding falls short of what is required to promote participation of all children and reduce costs to families at back-to-school time. For many years now SVP has been campaigning for an education system which is sufficiently funded and for an increase in the capitation grant, so schools no longer must fundraise or request voluntary contributions. 

To date there has been no assessment of the adequacy of the capitation grant at secondary school level and there are no clear guidelines on how rates were determined and set pre-2011.

SVP says: ‘We wish to change that, and with your input we can evidence our campaigning for the increase of capitation grants to an adequate level so that voluntary contribution or school fundraising is no longer required’.

SVP has commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct a survey to identify where the current gaps in funding are for all categories of post-primary schools in Ireland. 

No individual school will be identifiable, and responses will be completely anonymous. Only schools in the same cohort will be analysed together and comparison will be made by size (small/medium/large), location (urban/rural) and DEIS status. All data is treated with the strictest confidence and will not be held by Grant Thornton or SVP after the final report is published. 

There are 20 questions in total. Your participation in the research is vital because it will illustrate the structure and inadequacy of school funding in Ireland and what schools share will directly input into a campaign for change. 

SVP reiterates: ‘We are committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and social exclusion in Ireland and, in solidarity with people experiencing poverty and disadvantage, to advocate and work for the changes required to create a more just and caring society. Your submissions will form the basis of final report collated by Grant Thornton. This report will then be utilised by us at SVP as part of our advocacy work’.

The survey may be accessed at: https://bit.ly/3PguMRT 

Thank you for this important support.