Interview with Áine Lawlor, Teaching Council - SeomraRangga.ie
- Published: 08 February 2011
Having a self-regulating body for any profession signifies the maturity of that profession and indicates that it is trusted to manage its professional affairs in the interest of the public good. It is also the case that, nationally and internationally, there is a strong focus on setting standards and regulating professions with professionalism, trust and integrity being key elements.
Fixing the education system [IrishTimes]
- Published: 07 February 2011
Madam, – Ed Walsh’s article (Education Today, January 25th) pioneers a bizarre new approach to education excellence – starving Irish schools and pupils of even more resources.
His assertion that increasing spending does not make schools better is based on a false premise. The increase in Irish education spending indicated has much to do with capital projects necessary to take account of changing demographic needs and the full inclusion of students who do not have English as a first language and those with special educational needs. Throwing around figures without such a critique is at best an academically flawed exercise and at worst a mischievous one.
Interestingly, he fails to acknowledge the strong science performance when addressing the concerns over reading and maths competencies set out in the recent Pisa international survey on student performance. He neglects to factor in some other vital information. For example, he fails to reference that a greater number of students for whom English is a second language or who have special educational needs were among those surveyed than in previous reports. TUI fully endorses the inclusion agenda, but we contend that it is too poorly resourced to ensure positive learning for all students in an education system riven with inequalities.
Mr Walsh decries what he terms “the major salary increases” enjoyed by teachers yet neglects to mention that they, along with the rest of public servants, earn considerably less than they did two years ago in an increasingly more difficult classroom environment.
After failing to blacken the name of a profession with facts, he resorts to referencing “frequently used” threats to the Leaving Cert by teacher unions, a strange fictional flourish with no grounding in reality. TUI would never resort to such a threat.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Education 'standing still' due to cutbacks [IrishTimes]
- Published: 07 February 2011
SCHOOLS: CUTS IN education “made no sense” and will end up costing money, the chief executive of Educate Together has said.
Speaking in advance of the launch of the multi-denominational school patrons’ Five Priorities for our Education System, Paul Rowe also said reduced investment in education meant Ireland was “standing still while other economies are sprinting ahead”.
Educate Together was established in the mid-1970s and now has 58 schools across the State.
Its five priorities for a new government include that multi-denominational education should be available to all children; that education budgets should be protected and fully spent; and that Educate Together secondary schools should be established.
It has also said prefabs that are “expensive to lease, heat and maintain”, should be phased out and replaced with permanent schools, which would also provide jobs and get builders “off the dole”.
Cuts to classroom supports and services should be reversed. Mr Rowe said the cuts made in education services made little sense and would cost money over time.
“This is particularly true of the budget reductions for special needs, English language, Traveller community and educational psychology supports,” he said.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Teaching perks for politicians set to end [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 05 February 2011
TEACHERS elected to the next Dáil and Seanad will no longer be entitled to build up their teacher pensions while serving in the Oireachtas.
The Government has also decided that TDs and senators will no longer have the option of returning to their jobs after 10 years or moving up the salary scale for teachers during their absence.
The move follows the ending in 2009 of the system that allowed TDs and senators on career breaks from teaching to keep the difference between their salary and the cost of a replacement teacher to their school.
The payments varied, depending on the point the Oireachtas member was at on the 25-year teachers’ salary scale (which they continued to go up each year even while not teaching) and the comparative experience of their replacement.
More than €800,000 was paid in the 10 years to the end of 2007 to more than 20 TDs and senators who benefited from this arrangement, which has been in place since the 1970s.
But it is only in a letter to school managers this week that the Department of Education outlines how other benefits are now to come to an end for members of the profession elected to Leinster House from the start of the next Dáil and Seanad.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
