Cuts ‘will perpetuate two-tier school system’ [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 23 November 2011
THE Government has been warned of further education cuts widening a gap in a two-tier school system which Sinn Féin claims benefits wealthier families at the expense of students from poorer backgrounds.
The party was responding to the publication of league tables of college progression that showed students at fee-paying schools are far more likely to have secured a place in a third-level college this year.
The tables combine information supplied to colleges from the Central Applications Office (CAO) about the school of origin of new entrants with State Examinations Commission figures for numbers sitting the Leaving Certificate in each school.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
We need to protect our children’s education [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 23 November 2011
AS a teacher/principal for the last 33 years I have witnessed what’s excellent in our primary school system. We survived the savage cuts of the 80s to build a top-class education system.
The greed and lack of regulation and leadership has seen our nation fall from its lofty perch to one lacking in confidence and awash with despair.
My own two children have been forced to emigrate to Australia and New Zealand to build new lives far away from their parents and friends. They, at least, were well served by our education system and have the skills to survive abroad.
The proposed education cuts will take teachers out of the classrooms and lead to falling standards.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
Adding up the cost of teacher cuts [IrishTimes]
- Published: 22 November 2011
Sir, – With respect to increasing the pupil teacher ratio, the Department of Education has decided that “each post left unfilled at second level will yield savings averaging €64,000 a year” (Seán Flynn, Home News, November 19th 20th). Surely this is a false indication of the actual savings?
It appears the department has not taken into consideration that many of the people who may lose their position and not be rehired next year are only in their first few years of teaching. Indeed, many of these are in their first year of teaching, which means they are on a basic wage of less than €30,000 per annum. You can subtract the tax from this, as that will go straight back to the Government anyway. It should also subtract circa €10,000 from its total “saving” due to the jobseeker’s allowance that would be paid to the extra unemployed teachers joining the dole queues, not to mention the rent allowance, medical cards, and other benefits.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Rise in pupil-teacher ratios [IrishTimes]
- Published: 22 November 2011
Sir, – We have opted to have our children educated in a school of our ethos (ie Protestant), as is our right under the Constitution.
This means that they have to attend a private secondary school, for which we have to pay fees, as there is no non-fee paying protestant school in rural Ireland. In a country where most children enjoy free secondary education, we thus already have to pay to have our children educated in our faith.
Our children will now face bigger classes than their counterparts in public schools (Front page, November 19th), which in practice means less subject choices. In other words, all Protestant children in this country who attend a Protestant secondary school are worse off than most of their Catholic friends.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Failure to grasp nettle on maths a national shame [Independent.ie]
- Published: 22 November 2011
If we are ever to extricate ourselves from our present difficulties and lay the foundations for a successful economy in the long term, we must solve what has come to be called the "maths crisis".
This problem is usually discussed in educational terms, but it is very much broader and deeper.
Nobody can fail to see the importance of maths in the education system.
In its development in the immediate future, the system must address as a matter of extreme urgency two related questions: the need to break away from rote learning and the centrality of mathematics to focused and independent thinking.
It is equally significant for the economy.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
