Monaghan barracks to become €20 million education campus [sbpost.ie]
- Published: 01 August 2010
Work is to start early next year on a €20 million education campus on the site of a former army barracks in Monaghan town, which closed last year.
The 20-acre site has been acquired for €3.1million by Monaghan VEC, which is managing the plan for the country’s first integrated educational campus. It will be home to Monaghan Institute of Further Education, a gaelscoil, gaelcholÁiste and an Irish language pre-school, as well as a theatre, gym and sports fields.
Martin O’Brien, chief executive of Monaghan VEC, said the project had the full backing of the government and should have its first intake of students in September 2012. A Dublin firm, Oppermann Architects, has been appointed to lead the design team for the project, and a feasibility study on what could be built on the site is almost complete.
Full Story: www.sbpost.ie
New ASTI president to take up role [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 01 August 2010
Mr Keane teaches Geography and English at Rice College in Ennis, Co Clare.
He says his key priorities are protecting teachers' conditions of employment and protecting education from further cutbacks.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
23 Schools struggle to find a principal [waterford-today.ie]
- Published: 30 July 2010
Twenty-three primary schools nationwide have had to advertise the position of principal a second time in recent months, due to a lack of applications from aspirant leaders. Nineteen schools have been forced to re-advertise the position an unprecedented three times to secure an adequate number of suitably qualified applicants.
Figures released recently by the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) based on their recruitment website, EducationPosts.ie, indicate that an increasing number of class teachers are shunning the position of principal in many schools. July is normally the busiest time of the year for recruitment in schools nationwide.
'There have been 161 principal positions advertised since January on EducationPosts.ie and the number of schools forced to re-advertise the position of principal has risen by a staggering 54% in the last two months alone' stated Pat Goff, IPPN President. Almost half of the schools forced to re-advertise are in counties of major population growth such as Dublin and Galway. Three schools are on record as having advertised for a principal on four separate occasions.
Full Story: www.waterford-today.ie
Athlone mooted for State school patronage [advertiser.ie]
- Published: 30 July 2010
Athlone and Ballinasloe have been named as two of the locations around the country where the Government is considering plans to take control of some Catholic primary schools.
The Irish Catholic newspaper revealed this week that the Government has drawn up plans to take over the patronage of a number of the country’s Catholic schools, and has given the Catholic Church a list of areas nationwide where the schools are located.
While the schools or areas have not yet been revealed, it is believed the majority are in the wider Dublin area while other schools up for consideration are based in Athlone, Ballinasloe, Killarney and Tramore.
Full Story: www.advertiser.ie
Educate Together 'needs own secondary schools' [Independent.ie]
- Published: 30 July 2010
THE multi-denominational Educate Together says there is a need for a brand new type of second-level school to cater for the growing number of pupils coming out of their primary schools.
The vast majority of parents of children in Educate Together primary schools want them to continue their second-level education in the same ethos, research has shown.
Educate Together's long-running campaign for recognition as a second-level patron yielded limited results this week with a proposal that it share control of a new school in Co Dublin.
Education Minister Mary Coughlan said she favoured joint patronage between Educate Together and County Dublin Vocational Education Committee (CDVEC) for a school in Clonburris, Lucan.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
