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Budget 2020 Education Update


Posted by Schooldays Newshound, on 08/10/2019. Budget 2020 Education UpdateTags: Education And Politics Teachers Parenting


Over €11 billion will be provided to the Department of Education and Skills in 2020.

This will include:

  • 150 new mainstream teaching posts in schools and investment of €1.9 billion in special education. 
  • 400 additional posts to support those with special educational needs
  • 1,000 more Special Needs Assistants to be hired.
  • Funding for a School Book Scheme
  • An increase of more than 25 per cent to support preschool access for children with disabilities under AIM (the Access and Inclusion Model).

    Extract from Department of Education Press Release below with more details on budget

    Some of the key features of Budget 2020 in education and skills:


    New Teachers

  • We will recruit 581 new teachers – 408 of whom will be working with children with special needs.
  • 153 of the new teachers will be working in mainstream roles and another 20 will be recruited to work in small schools.
  • Our education system will have 71,473 teachers, with the teacher allocation ratio in primary schools at its lowest-ever level.

    Special Education

  • €1.9 billion will be invested in special education – one-fifth of the record education budget.
  • Some 1,064 additional special needs assistants will be hired to work with children with special educational needs in schools. There will be almost 17,000 SNAs in our schools.
    265 new teachers will be recruited to work in special classes in our schools.
  • An additional 120 special education teachers will be recruited for mainstream schools; while another 23 teachers will be hired for special schools.
  • Our investments will ensure more than 1,300 new places in special classes.
  • The State’s enhanced capitation grant for running costs will increase by 7.5%.

    Support for Small Schools

  • Improved teacher staffing levels will be introduced for small schools with four teachers or fewer.
  • The one-point reduction in the staffing schedule will help ensure better teacher retention in schools with up to four teachers.
  • The improved schedule will apply in two, three and four teacher schools and ensure one less pupil is required to retain/recruit a teacher.

    More Third Level Opportunities

  • A fund worth €60 million for higher education institutions that seek to create new and diverse courses to expand the number of student places while preparing young people for a fast-changing world of work.
  • The investment is part of the five-year €300m Human Capital Initiative, established from within the National Training Fund’s surplus.
  • It will add capacity across higher education to meet priority skills needs for enterprise, to drive regional jobs growth and development and support key economic sectors in responding to the challenges of Brexit.

    Leadership Opportunities

  • One additional release day will be provided for primary school teaching principals.
  • The extra time to carry out administrative duties will apply to 1,760 schools with fewer than seven teachers.
  • New and Improved School, College and University Buildings
  • Budget 2020 investment includes a capital allocation for new, bigger and more energy-efficient school buildings and third level facilities with a €922 million budget for 2020 under Project Ireland 2040.
  • This investment will deliver in excess of 30,000 school places.
  • Since 2016 we have invested €3billion in these building projects.

    Improved School Funding

  • All schools will see a 2.5% increase in the State’s capitation grant per child from September 2020.
  • Building on the renewed investment in recent years, the increase will see an additional €4.8m grant for schools in a full year.
  • A €1m investment to provide funding for school books in primary schools.

    Gaeltacht Grants

  • Restoration of the Gaeltacht grant for students on State-funded Initial Teacher Education programmes.

    School Transport

  • An additional €26 million will be invested in the school transport system to provide for growing numbers of school children.

    Public service pay

  • €143m investment to implement the Public Services Pay and Stability Agreement.

    Investing in Research

  • €3.3m investment in universities to identify and drive research areas of growth, enhance international collaboration, raise the third level profile and engagement with international and industry research funders.

    Apprenticeships and Skills

  • A major funding package is being made available from the National Training Fund to significantly increase workplace and employer-led training, boost apprenticeship numbers and help to address Brexit-related issues.
  • An additional €27 million is being made available for apprenticeships. It will support 7,000 apprenticeship registrations in 2020, and a range of new schemes.
  • The investment puts the Government on course to meet the commitment to double the number of apprentices in training in the period 2016-2020.
  • By the end of 2020 more than 20,000 apprentices will be training.
  • We are also backing upskilling with almost €8 million additional funding for Skillnet Ireland and an additional €6 million for employee skills development initiatives.


    View full press release on: Education.ie


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