Quinn pledges to rid classrooms of unqualified substitute staff [Independent.ie]
- Published: 26 April 2011
EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn has pledged to get rid of unqualified staff working in primary school classrooms.
He made the promise after the Irish Independent yesterday revealed hundreds of unqualified teachers have been working in schools this year.
Speaking as the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) congress got under way, the minister said it was "wrong" that people with no teaching qualification were being given substitute and temporary work for teachers out sick or on leave.
While offering some comfort on one front, the minister's first address to a teachers' conference warned about difficult choices ahead as he faced the challenge of cutting costs to meet the terms of the EU/IMF bailout, while pupil numbers were rising.
Half of the country's 3,200 primary schools had an unqualified teacher for up to a week this year, and as many as 400 persons with no teaching qualifications have worked for at least 50 days.
A further 975 retired primary teachers have also held substitute or temporary jobs in primary schools this year.
What makes the situation more scandalous is that hundreds of newly qualified teachers cannot find work -- with many unable to find even enough substitute work to satisfy their 170-day probation period and officially complete their training as a teacher.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Encouraging signs for Minister's reform agenda [IrishTimes]
- Published: 26 April 2011
ANALYSIS: Ruairí Quinn appears determined to push through a radical programme of reform for education
SENIOR OFFICIALS in the Department of Education are still coming to terms with the work rate and ambition of their new Minister.
Whereas most of his predecessors spent three days a week in the department (nurturing the constituency on Mondays and Fridays) Quinn is virtually ever-present in Marlborough Street.
Unencumbered by routine constituency work, Quinn arrives before 8am each morning. He has a full day to focus on the task in hand – reforming and reinvigorating the Irish education system.
In some respects, his timing could scarcely be better. The recent OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) survey – which showed Ireland tumbling down the world rankings in literacy and numeracy – has changed the entire education landscape. It has shattered the complacency and self-regard that has clung to the Irish education system – and provided an opening to achieve transformative change.
Quinn has described the OECD-Pisa study as a “wake-up call for Irish education”. We have been “codding” ourselves in believing we have one of the best education systems in the world, he says. His message: the old ways are no longer good enough, Irish education must change and adapt.
During a frenetic first six weeks in office, Quinn has stirred controversy and promised fundamental change almost on a daily basis. At times, some senior officials have urged a more measured approach – but he has paid no heed.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Ruairi gets off to flyer by keeping his feet on the ground [Independent.ie]
- Published: 26 April 2011
IT was such a lovely sunny day in Sligo for the opening day of the INTO conference that the temptation to ask Education Minister Ruairi Quinn if we could all dul amach and sit on the grass while he spoke was almost overwhelming.
One of the sure signs that Easter is at an end is the start of the triumvirate of teachers' conferences, a weeklong talkfest of debate, workshops, speeches and synchronised moaning.
And the 700-plus primary school teachers who packed into the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sligo yesterday for the opening of the congress had a schoolbag-ful of grievances to present to the new boy, Ruairi, who was embarking on his first round of conferences -- a sort of post-Easter Stations of the Cross.
There was quite a smorgasbord of concerns: the lack of work for newly qualified teachers, the employment of unqualified teachers in schools, the reduction in the numbers of special needs assistants, pupil numbers, classroom sizes, and the state of uncertainty over how the IMF/EU bailout will affect the education sector, to name a few.
Out in the sunshine a group of youthful protesters -- first-year and student teachers -- donned blue T-shirts daubed with poster-paint slogans: 'I Didn't Bankrupt the Country', 'You Paid to Train Me... Now Let Me Work', while a co-protest group of parents of children with special needs arrived with kiddies and balloons in tow.
However, Ruairi received a good welcome in the hall which was packed to the rafters with delegates.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
INTO warns of jobs 'crisis' [IrishTimes]
- Published: 26 April 2011
Ireland is facing a crisis in teacher employment next year if cuts in school staffing are not reversed, the primary teachers' union has warned.
Delegates at the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation conference in Sligo have been told that hundreds of newly qualified teachers are without regular work and, with 700 jobs in primary schools to go in September, the situation is set to worsen.
The union warned that a further 2,000 primary teachers will face emigration or unemployment when they graduate from colleges of education in May.
Teacher employment is the single biggest challenge facing primary teachers now, INTO president Jim Higgins told the 750 delegates today.
The cutbacks planned for next September and further threatened reductions as part of the four year austerity plan would take even more teachers out of the system, Mr Higgins warned.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
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
