School tours cancelled due to money troubles [Independent.ie]
- Published: 18 May 2010
PUPILS are losing out on their annual school tours because of financial pressure on their parents and staffing cutbacks.
The end-of-year day out, an eagerly awaited date in the school calendar, has been cancelled by a number of schools, it has emerged.
One 900-pupil primary school in west Dublin has explained its reasoning in a letter sent to parents in the past week.
Sean O Diomasaigh, principal of Sacred Heart of Jesus National School, Huntstown, said he was well aware that some families were struggling to make ends meet.
"This current school year has been a difficult time for many families, particularly those affected by unemployment or a reduction in their take-home pay," he wrote.
For this reason, he already told parents not to buy presents for teachers at Christmas or any other time, and had asked staff to be mindful of the economic climate when compiling children's book lists.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Dáil must unite and bring forward childrens' rights referendum [labour.ie]
- Published: 18 May 2010
I move this Motion tonight in my name and that of my Labour and Sinn Féin colleagues, in the shadow of yet another tragic death, this time by murder of a child in the care of the HSE. We don't know the full story of the life and death of Daniel McAnaspie. What we do know is disquieting and a cause of real concern. As we send our condolences to Daniel's family we must also resolve to do more.
It was in February 2007 (more than three years ago) that the then Government presented the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill to Dáil Éireann. After many years of debate and consideration - there was consensus that we needed to change the Constitution to give greater rights to children.
Full Story: www.labour.ie
English is not enough to get by in the world [timesonline.co.uk]
- Published: 18 May 2010
Sir, Young people and the UK economy are certainly losing out badly because of a dismissive and shortsighted attitude to language teaching (“Schools are teaching pupils to be linguistic paupers of Europe”, May 15). Sadly, your report that a modern language will become a compulsory part of primary school education from 2011, is wrong. This was the plan, but the statutory authority to do it was one of the provisions in the Children, Schools and Families Bill abandoned by the political parties in the parliamentary “wash-up” process before the general election.
Languages after the age of 14 remain optional in more than three-quarters of state schools. More than 83 per cent don’t bother to set a benchmark for take-up and even the school’s self-assessment process for Ofsted inspections no longer includes a specific question on language teaching. GCSE entries are in decline, a third of university modern languages departments have closed in the past seven years, and employers are recruiting from overseas to meet their language needs because they cannot find what they want from UK- educated school-leavers or graduates.
Full Story: www.timesonline.co.uk
Teacher's pet [IrishTimes]
- Published: 18 May 2010
An insider’s guide to education
- The “big -spending’’ areas of health and education are reportedly being targeted by department of finance mandarins as the fiscal crisis continues.
These reports have unleashed great apprehension across the education sector.
But the scope for another “slash and burn” exercise in schools and colleges is very narrow – not least because over 70 per cent of the €8billion in education funding is absorbed by pay and pensions for teachers, lecturers and the rest.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Bullying-related suicide is on the rise among our teens [Independent.ie]
- Published: 17 May 2010
DOZENS of young Irish teenagers have fallen victim to the same fate as Phoebe Prince, who took her own life after being tormented by bullies, Ireland's leading bullying expert has warned.
Tragic Phoebe (15), who was originally from Co Clare, took her own life after an orchestrated campaign of hatred against her by classmates in the US.
Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office reveal more than 70 teenagers under 17 took their own lives between 2006 and last September.
There is no data available that provides an explanation of the factors involved in these deaths.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
