No other OECD country spends a lower proportion of GDP on education than Ireland. Why?

The theme of this year’s Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) annual congress is “address inequality, invest in education”, and a wide range of motions in Wexford will make clear the need for significantly enhanced resourcing to ensure that students across all sectors have access to the same high-quality education.

The issues to be debated will vary, but a sizeable proportion could be resolved through appropriate Government investment, and that is the clear message we will be firmly but respectfully delivering to the Ministers we have invited to address us.

Shamefully, the latest OECD indicators show that of the countries listed, none spend a lower proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) on education than Ireland. It is the TUI’s strong contention that students from disadvantaged backgrounds suffer the most as a result of this inadequate resourcing, so the continuing failure to properly invest inevitably widens inequalities in our society.

In terms of key issues, the teacher supply crisis remains a daunting challenge, with schools across the country continuing to experience severe re...
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