Diary of a schoolteacher: Why REM's Michael Stipe and Take That just don't mix [Independent.ie]
- Published: 09 March 2011
Imagine that instead of asking Robbie Williams to rejoin, Take That had hired Michael Stipe of REM to swell their ranks.
Now, I'd actually listen to REM if it weren't for Stipe's whiny and tuneless voice, the factor that in my opinion spoils their best work. I think he has the worst voice in rock music.
So, let me extrapolate this musical nightmare; Take That (with Michael Stipe) record the excellent Circus with an American guy who can't dance, is bald, and worst of all is 14 years older than the peerless Robbie.
Now imagine the reason for Take That taking Michael under their wing is because the Minister for Culture insisted that the hard work and talent of good singers like Mark and Gary should be used to benefit rubbish singers (no fault of their own). They would 'bring them up' and old Baldy's singing would improve as a result of contact with Take That.
Of course it's all nonsense; that slouching piebald grazing on a patch of waste ground won't win the Grand National by sharing a stable with Don't Push It.
Yet this is what we seem to believe in most of our schools as we 'set' the less able (including the downright unwilling) to learn alongside our best pupils.
Streaming was outlawed in Irish schools because it was argued that this way we were creating an educational form of apartheid and so we were told to organise pupils according to subject choice, not ability.
This way, it was argued, we might have several classes in each year, all of them 'mixed ability' but each form differing only in the variety of subject combinations.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Job fears for primary teachers [Independent.ie]
- Published: 09 March 2011
HUNDREDS of young primary teachers face losing their jobs this summer as the cost of the EU/IMF bailout takes its toll on schools.
All vacant positions must be filled by permanent teachers being redeployed from other schools, at the expense of temporary teachers who may already be doing the job.
It leaves young teachers, with one or two years' experience, facing a summer of uncertainty -- and hundreds may end up with no job in September.
And that does not take into account the estimated 1,500-2,000 new teachers graduating this summer.
Existing
In September, about 1,100 primary teachers will be reassigned from their existing jobs.
That is about three times the usual number of teachers who are redeployed each year.
These teachers will get the first call on posts such as those which have up until now been filled by staff on annual fixed-term contracts, held predominantly by recent graduates.
The Department of Education has sent a circular to schools advising of the strict new arrangements for filling posts.
It is only when all the teachers on the redeployment panels have been offered jobs that schools can open them up to others, including those working on a temporary basis.
The circular refers to the Programme for National Recovery and the EU/IMF Programme of Support for Ireland and the need "to exercise additional control and reporting measures to ensure that the number of teachers employed in schools is consistent with those programmes".
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Teacher's Pet [IrishTimes]
- Published: 08 March 2011
Labour is expected to secure the education brief when the new Cabinet is named tomorrow – although nothing is certain. The Education portfolio will only be assigned after other “more important jobs ’’ in Finance, Foreign Affairs, Health, Public Service Reform and Enterprise are allocated.
Ruairí Quinn – so impressive as opposition spokesman – is seen as favourite despite his trenchant criticism of Department of Education officials two years ago during the Dáil debate on the Ryan child abuse report. Senior department figures, he said, were either obscurantist members of secret societies or else they were “incompetent, lazy and destructive”.
Who else is in the frame?
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, a former head of the Union of Students in Ireland, has a huge interest in education issues . And his wife is chair of the Dún Laoghaire VEC.
But some insiders say it might be unwise to appoint Gilmore to Education, given the task the new government will face in rationalising the VEC sector. That said, he is very well briefed on the education agenda.
Róisín Shorthall, who has much to say on education, could also be set for elevation after her storming performance in the election.
On the Fine Gael side, education spokesman Fergus O’Dowd and former spokesman Brian Hayes are being mentioned – even though both opposed Enda Kenny in the leadership heave. Richard Bruton could also feature – if he is not appointed as the new minister for the public service.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
New primary schools signal declining Catholic influence [Independent.ie]
- Published: 08 March 2011
NONE of five new primary schools opening in the next two years will be under the control of the Catholic Church.
The Department of Education yesterday gave the go-ahead for the five schools to open in Dublin's commuter belt in September 2011 and 2012.
The share-out reflects the shifting ground in Ireland's educational landscape, in particular the diminishing role of the Catholic Church.
The schools will cater for the fast-growing communities in west Dublin as well as the burgeoning population of Ashbourne, in neighbouring south Meath.
Three of the schools will open next September and the other two in September 2012 -- and all will be either multi-denominational or inter-denominational.
The multi-denominational body Educate Together will be patron to three of the schools, in Mulhuddart and west Blanchardstown in September, and in Ashbourne in 2012.
The Irish language organisation, An Foras Patrunachta, will be patron of a new multi-denominational school in Ashbourne in September, and an inter-denominational school in Mulhuddart in 2012.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Five schools to open by 2013 [IrishTimes]
- Published: 08 March 2011
FIVE NEW primary schools are to be established over the next two years under the patronage of the multi-denominational group Educate Together and the gaelscoil umbrella body, An Foras Pátrúnachta.
All five are in areas of rapid population growth in the Dublin commuter belt.
Educate Together will open schools in the Dublin suburbs of Blanchardstown west, Mulhuddart and Ashbourne, Co Meath. An Foras Pátrúnachta will open one inter-denominational school in west Dublin and one in Ashbourne.
There are no new Catholic schools in the list of new schools detailed by the Department of Education yesterday.
Last month, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin acknowledged the Catholic Church was over-represented in primary education, given the increasing secularisation of Irish society.
At present, the church controls 89.6 per cent of all primary schools in the State.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
