'Difficult decisions to be made' over Ireland's education system [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 26 April 2011
Ireland could see a number of changes made to its education system this week as the annual teachers' conferences take place over the next few days.
Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn has warned those in the sector that there will be difficult decisions made, which are likely to affect them, according to RTE.
Speaking at the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) conference, he said there are hard targets to meet and many budget cuts to take into account.
However, he told those in the industry that he understood the difficulty of pay cuts and job losses and commended their support and volunteerism.
He echoed comments made earlier this month in which he suggested that further reductions will need to be made if the Croke Park deal does not help ease education budget concerns.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Welcome for assurances on keeping small schools [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 26 April 2011
TEACHERS have welcomed assurances from Education Minister Ruairi Quinn that there are no plans to close small primary schools.
Concern has been mounting in rural communities in recent months about an ongoing review by Mr Quinn’s department into value for money from the resources given to hundreds of smaller schools.
But he told the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) annual congress that the study is not driven by ideology, with no policy decisions yet taken and no particular outcome being sought. It is examining the 650 schools with 50 pupils or less.
"This is part of an overall requirement across all Government departments to have a rolling programme of such studies. The study is simply about ascertaining the facts to inform future decisions," he said.
Mr Quinn later told reporters that the review should be completed by the end of this year and he would only make decisions based on the findings that emerge. But he said the public campaigning has left him under no illusion about the strength of feeling on the issue.
INTO president Jim Higgins welcomed the commitment and said a shadow had been hanging over smaller schools since the An Bord Snip Nua report in 2009 recommended hundreds of them be amalgamated to save costs.
"In parts of Ireland, the only infrastructure left is the school. Other community resources have been systematically stripped out as policy makers, intentionally or otherwise, pursue a campaign of urbanisation, mainly on cost grounds."
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
‘Impact on all pupils’ [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 26 April 2011
FIONNUALA Lynch won’t start school until next year but her mother Tracey Holsgrove is fighting to ensure she gets all the supports she needs when does.
The three-year-old has a rare condition called Dandy-Walker syndrome, which means part of her brain is not fully developed. She is at the developmental stage of a 10-month-old and is unable to walk or to stand on her own, and still wears nappies.
Under the previous government’s four-year national recovery plan last November, the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) helping children with disabilities in primary and second-level schools can not breach 10,575, despite thousands more children entering classes over the next few years.
Tracey and Fionnuala’s father Liam Lynch travelled from Oldcastle, Co Meath to Sligo to impress on Education Minister Ruairi Quinn the need to ease the restrictions on the number of SNAs.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
Decision to cut time spent teaching maths is criticised [Independent.ie]
- Published: 26 April 2011
PRIMARY school pupils must spend more time learning maths, a teachers' leader said last night.
Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) president Jim Higgins said the decision to reduce the time allocated to maths 10 years ago should be reviewed.
It would be one of the ways of tackling the worrying fall in Ireland's standards in numeracy, he told the annual conference of the INTO.
Irish 15-year-old students' place in world rankings on maths proficiency dropped from 16th to 26th between 2006 and 2009, according to the most recent OECD/PISA survey
Mr Higgins said primary teachers would respond to the challenge of raising standards in numeracy and literacy, which also experienced a dramatic fall in the international league table, from fifth to 17th place.
But he told Education Minister Ruairi Quinn he also had to give a commitment to support teachers by resourcing modern classrooms and providing more training.
There was a real need to improve the quality of maths textbooks and develop digital content to support the curriculum, Mr Higgins said.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Quinn pledges spending review [IrishTimes]
- Published: 26 April 2011
Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn today warned of further cuts in spending as he pledged to carry out a detailed review of expenditure in his department.
Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, Mr Quinn said he needed to reduce expenditure in terms of services and facilities.
"We are doing a public expenditure review at the behest of Brendan Howlin. What that means is that every programme of expenditure in every government department is looked at and we ask the fundamental question do we need this or can it be eliminated, reduced or transformed. This has worked in Canada and other countries," he said.
Mr Quinn said it would not be a "slash and burn" approach but rather a critical review of programmes.
"There’s a difference between pruning a rose bush and digging out the plant," he said.
Mr Quinn was heckled by parents of special needs children and by newly qualified young teachers as he made his way into the INTO conference in Sligo yesterday. Primary school boards of management were informed last month that there would be no further allocation of special needs resource hours from September. Pupils who qualify for special needs support hours will retain those hours, but no applications for new school entrants, or newly diagnosed pupils, can be made. The announcement has led to concern and confusion in schools and anxiety for parents.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
