Teacher's Pet [IrishTimes]
- Published: 14 September 2010
An insider’s guide to education
** Where has Minister for Education Mary Coughlan gone? After a bright start in Marlborough Street, she has been keeping a very low profile of late – despite this year’s media storm over the Leaving Cert and the return of the points race. All very curious; perhaps she is readying herself to deliver a Big Idea that will re- invigorate our education system.
** Is the fall in the world rankings of TCD and UCD a blessing in disguise for the university sector?
With luck , it might serve as a wake-up call for a Government that has no coherent policy for higher education.
Consider the current mess. The Government identifies the universities as key engines of economic revival, but then proceeds to starve them of funds. An expert report (commissioned by the Government itself) says bring back tuition charges, but the Government says this is off the agenda because of an agreement with the Greens.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Education conference to discuss school patronage [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 13 September 2010
A conference taking place later this week has confirmed it will discuss the topic of primary and secondary school patronage.
The Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) will meet on Wednesday and Thursday (September 15th and 16th 2010) in Killenard, County Laois, to talk about the main issues of education in Ireland.
An IVEA spokesman told the Sunday Business Post that school patronage was an issue to be handled.
He said: "Vocational Education Authorities (VECs) feel that recent media attention tends to focus on other bodies, while the VECs' multi-denominational second level and primary schools are not sufficiently recognised as the state's multi-denominational, multi-belief school sector."
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Parents advised to avoid sugary cereals to give kids good start [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 13 September 2010
Parents of primary and secondary school children have been advised against giving their kids sugary cereals for breakfast.
According to Damien Maher, writing for The Irish Independent, the old adage "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" is true.
He stated that while it is often easier for time-strapped parents to give their children something easy such as sugar-laden cereals, this is "cheap fuel".
Mr Maher said that these types of cereals are detrimental to the health of children as high-sugar diets can lead to cancer, obesity and diabetes.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Revealed: the payoff plans for 2,000 staff in education [belfasttelegraph.co.uk]
- Published: 13 September 2010
Northern Ireland’s education system could be hit by up to 2,000 job cuts including many teachers under Department of Education proposals, the chair of the Assembly’s education committee has warned.
The DUP’s Mervyn Storey said that teachers are likely to be hardest hit if a mass redundancy plan gets the go-ahead.
A teaching union leader stressed that job cuts would have a serious negative impact on the quality of children's education here.
Papers showing the department’s spending proposals for the next five years were discussed at last week’s education committee meeting.
On top of 188 teacher redundancies likely during 2010/11, the proposals include £253.8m to be spent on redundancy costs within schools and the department in the following four years.
Full Story: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Editor's Viewpoint: Cuts to education risk going too far [belfasttelegraph.co.uk]
- Published: 13 September 2010
The latest revelation in today's Belfast Telegraph about the possible loss of up to 2,000 jobs in Northern Ireland's education system gives much cause for concern.
Many warnings have been given about the severity of the impending Government cutbacks on spending, but the education proposals, if they are implemented in full, will deal a serious body blow to one of the major sectors of our community.
Cuts of this nature would mean significant redundancies among teachers, and this would prove to be a retrograde step. The quality of education overall in this province is excellent but, if educational funding is to be cut so severely, it is inevitable that standards will drop.
High educational standards are important, not only for the young people involved, but also as an asset for Northern Ireland in its bid to attract inward investment.
Full Story: www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
