School boards decide who to hire and fire, says Sherlock [IrishTimes]
- Published: 23 September 2011
THE DEPARTMENT of Education cannot prevent schools employing unqualified maths teachers, Minister of State Sean Sherlock has said.
He was replying to Fianna Fáil education spokesman Brendan Smith, who asked if he would be in a position to do this when the results of a survey under way became available.
“To give the deputy a straight answer, I am not in a position to do that,” said Mr Sherlock. “As he is well aware, the boards of management of schools have autonomy in respect of who they hire and who they fire.”
Mr Sherlock said he would be cautious regarding the department exercising control over decisions made by individual schools.
Asking Mr Smith to “have faith”, he said his department would analyse the results of the survey and then proceed cautiously. “There must be an outcome which ensures that teachers are properly qualified and that students obtain good results in their examinations,” he added.
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