Call for young teachers to be tested on literacy level [Independent.ie]
- Published: 28 December 2010
Student teachers should be assessed on their reading, writing and numeracy skills before they qualify, a controversial report suggests.
It recommends that student teachers should take compulsory courses in the teaching and assessment of literacy and maths and should show their abilities to teach in these areas before they qualify.
The proposals are put forward in a draft policy paper from the Teaching Council, the statutory professional body for teaching in Ireland.
The draft was drawn up before the recent shock OECD report which revealed sharp declines in the standards of both reading and maths among Irish 15-year-olds.
The paper says that the time is right for a thorough and fresh look at teacher education. Entry requirements and selection procedures should be reviewed.
At present, primary teacher trainees are selected on the basis of their Leaving Cert points but the report says consideration should be given to the use of aptitude tests and structured interviews.
The entry level maths requirement should be raised, it suggests. At present, a pass in maths is all that is required. A review should explore ways of increasing entry to the profession by under-represented groups.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Schools 'descend into chaos' as hiring ban persists [Independent.ie]
- Published: 28 December 2010
The Government has failed to live up to its promise to allow schools to fill certain vacant posts, leaving some schools to "descend into chaos".
The Department of Education has frozen the process in post-primary because a flood of retirements pushed up the number of vacancies they expected to have to fill.
More than 1,300 middle-management posts, crucial to the smooth running of schools, were lost as a result of the public sector jobs' embargo.
The Government gave a commitment in July to fill some of them amid warnings of the damaging effects on pupils of not filling vacant assistant principal positions.
The relief felt when the partial lifting of the moratorium was announced has now turned to disappointment and anger.
But to date, none of the 120 primary schools that applied to fill a vacancy in September has heard anything back from the department.
While the embargo affects all middle-ranking posts in schools, the alleviation only applies to vacancies at the level of assistant principal, because of the crucial role they play.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
School vacancies crisis adds to chaos [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 28 December 2010
They were responding to an initiative by Education Minister Mary Coughlan to alleviate the difficulties the public service promotion moratorium has created for schools with high numbers of vacancies through retirement or holders of the jobs being appointed principal.
Last month, the Irish Examiner reported that just over 60 out of around 1,500 vacant posts in second-level had so far been filled under the scheme, aimed only at assisting the worst-affected schools.
However, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) claims that the primary schools that had applied for relief under the scheme have not yet heard from the department. Most of them had responded to a survey of 220 large primary schools, which found that one-in-four assistant principal jobs have been lost in those schools, and significant numbers of special duties posts have been lost.
"The delay in responding to schools is completely unacceptable and the department must issue positive responses to schools immediately. It is unfair and unrealistic to expect modern well-managed schools without the necessary resources," said INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
Hundreds of senior school management posts vacant [IrishTimes]
- Published: 28 December 2010
HUNDREDS OF senior management posts in primary schools remain vacant – months after the Department of Education promised to fill them “within weeks’’.
Last night, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) warned of schools “descending into chaos” unless the department moves to ease the embargo on promotions.
In July, the Government announced a limited alleviation for larger primary schools worst affected by the embargo on appointing assistant principals in schools. Over 120 primary schools applied for this alleviation by mid-September. Subsequently, Minister for Education Mary Coughlan told the Dáil that schools could expect to hear of developments “within weeks”.
But the INTO said the response from the department to schools has been “deafening”. “So far schools have heard nothing back from the department,” said INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan.
An INTO survey of 220 large schools shows more than half have applied to the department for posts to be given back. Already in these schools one in four assistant principal posts has been lost due to retirements, transfer and promotion to principal or deputy principal. A significant number of special duties posts have also been lost.
The survey also predicts a further substantial loss of assistant principal posts – if the moratorium remains in place.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Drop Irish to claw back lost school time [Independent.ie]
- Published: 24 December 2010
I wholeheartedly agreed with Kevin Myers' piece on December 7 ('Teachers have given us all a harsh lesson -- in laziness').
Katherine Donnelly stated that 15 or more days' tuition have already been lost this month, with, apparently, no hope of recovering these.
But I have an idea that may salvage those lost hours.
Today's schoolchildren are being trained, not for jobs at home, but rather for emigration.
So the obvious solution would be to waste less time on subjects that would be of no use to our future diaspora.
May I suggest starting with the Irish language?
D K Henderson
Clontarf, Dublin 3
At the time of writing, the Department of Education and Skills has issued a statement to the effect that it is not possible to reopen the schools before January 10, 2011, to claw back time lost by the snow. The highly questionable explanation offered to parents and students is that department officials could not possibly contact the schools, pupils and teachers concerned in time to make the necessary arrangements.
I live with a primary school teacher. He is dedicated and hardworking and can often be found correcting school work late into the evenings and on the weekend.
I am familiar with the process followed by his school when informing staff and parents of school closures due to the snow. It is quite simple. The evening before, or, in some cases on the day of the closure, all parents and staff receive a text message informing them that the school is to close. In some cases the notice period is as little as an hour-and-a-half.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
