Pupils were not 'dossing' during closure [Independent.ie]
- Published: 08 December 2010
IN response to yesterday's column about schools by Kevin Myers, which mentions his local area Ballymore Eustace, I would not like your readers to get the impression that the pupils of Scoil Mhuire Primary school were "dossing" !
The school was closed for the least number of days necessary to clear and make safe the grounds. A parent used a digger and the board of management treated the area.
All teachers turned up for work. During closed days lessons were conveyed through the school website and corrected via email. Chill out Kevin! Everyone in Ballymore says you're great craic and that ould rant makes you sound cranky!
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Children's Alliance: Children left out in the cold [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 08 December 2010
The Children’s Rights Alliance have said cuts across the board in social welfare, child benefit, education, health and various other Departments have a "massive cumulative impact on children".
The group said that Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan’s speech yesterday only gave a snapshot of the Budget’s impact on children’s futures.
They said: "Children have been left out in the cold by this Budget."
The group outlined as the positives from the Budget for children included the allocation for the Constitutional Referendum on Children’s Rights in 2011 and also for the delivery of the Ryan Report Implementation Plan.
They also commended the maintaining of funding for Universal Free Pre-School Year and the €15m commitment to priority mental health projects.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
Student contribution fee of €2,000 a 'Pearl Harbour' [IrishTimes]
- Published: 08 December 2010
EDUCATION: STUDENTS WILL be liable for a new fee of €2,000 from next September, an increase of 33 per cent.
The new student contribution fee replaces the registration charge. Second and subsequent siblings will pay €1,500.
New arrangements where students can pay 50 per cent of the new fee in September and the balance in January are being examined by the colleges.
Last night, Gary Redmond, president of the Union of Students in Ireland labelled the Budget the “Pearl Harbour of Irish education”.
The Government’s decision to increase college fees was a retrograde step for Irish education, which will, he said, deny thousands of students access to a third-level education.
Overall, the cuts in the education budget are relatively modest, with a reduction of 2 per cent in the overall allocation of close to €9 billion.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Teen reading and maths skills show sharp decline [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 08 December 2010
IRELAND’s ambitions to be seen as a smart economy have suffered a serious setback as the reading skills of teenagers here have fallen more than in any other developed country in the last decade.
The shocking finding is compounded by a further drop in maths standards among our 15-year-olds, who were significantly below average for 33 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The only good news in the OECD’s 2009 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) report is that our teenagers perform significantly above average in science, mainly due to its introduction as a primary subject a decade ago and an updated Junior Certificate syllabus in 2004.
The results are the latest from a series of extensive testing in OECD countries every three years and more than 3,900 students at 144 Irish schools took part in the spring of 2009.
Their scores show, since 2000, the reading ability of the middle-scoring Irish 15-year-olds has dropped by 31 points to 496 of a maximum 600.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
Primary pupils to pay €50 school bus charge [Independent.ie]
- Published: 08 December 2010
MORE than 32,000 primary school children will have to pay annual school transport charges of €50 each from next September.
The maximum charge will be €110 per family.
Students travelling to post-primary schools will have to pay €350 a year, an increase of €50, with a maximum family charge of €650.
Children with special educational needs will continue to be transported free of charge, as will children whose families have a medical card, a spokesperson for the Department of Education and Skills said.
From next September, a minimum of 10 eligible children will be needed to establish or keep services, compared with seven at present.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
