Union boss warns of more cuts if deal is rejected [Independent.ie]
- Published: 02 May 2010
THE Government will "come back for more" cuts if the Croke Park agreement is rejected, SIPTU general president Jack O’Connor warned yesterday.
Making the strongest case by any union leader so far for a ‘Yes’ vote for the agreement, he said the proposals negotiated by the Government and the trade unions offered the best guarantee of reflecting the interests of the citizens of Ireland.
With the outcome of the Croke Park deal still “finely balanced”, and an outcome to the voting likely by early June, Mr O’Connor’s intervention is seen as being aimed at the undecided the union voters who are crucial to the deal being passed.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Minister rules out changes to funding private schools [IrishTimes]
- Published: 01 May 2010
STATE FUNDING for fee-paying schools appears secure for the foreseeable future after Minister for Education Mary Coughlan ruled out any change in current arrangements.
The issue has been controversial because of the Government’s €100 million support for fee-paying schools, while the most recent enrolment figures suggest continued strong demand from parents for places in this sector.
Ms Coughlan said she regarded the issue as settled and she had no plans to change current funding arrangements.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Academics reject pay deal [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 01 May 2010
ACADEMICS at one of the country’s biggest universities have rejected the Croke Park proposals on public services.
The staff at NUI Galway, who are members of SIPTU, say the proposed cuts will have a big impact on students.
"The Government is trying to shift even more of the burden of the financial crisis on to the backs of working families and in so doing will undermine educational standards and ensure further bail-outs for bankers and developers," the academics said in a statement.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
Department Cutting Special Education by Stealth
- Published: 30 April 2010
The claim by the Department of Education and Skills that special education has been spared the full brunt of the recent cutbacks is not believable, as it does not reflect the reality on the ground claim the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN).
‘There are approximately 55,000 additional children in the primary system since 2003. Since then, the number of children requiring special education has increased by up to 150%. Enrolment in these schools continues to grow, but their allocation of resource teachers remains fixed at 2003 levels. It is becoming increasingly difficult to serve the needs of children with significant learning difficulties, if the resources are not allowed to expand in-line with pupil numbers’ stated IPPN President, Pat Goff.
In 2003, the Department of Education & Science agreed on the ratios and levels of support that each individual school was entitled to avail of to meet the demands and requirements of children with learning difficulties. The initiative known as the Special Education Needs (SEN) General Allocation Model became operational in 2005. A review of the model was carried out in 2008, but the findings have not been published.
‘The failure to publish this report suggests that the under resourcing of SEN is a reality and, it weakens the Department’s claim that special needs education has been spared the full brunt of cuts in the education sector. Stretching existing resources more thinly to cater for extra numbers is in effect a cut in service’ continued Mr Goff.
IPPN Director, Seán Cottrell added that the Department of Education & Skills is not abiding by its own guidelines and called on Minister Coughlan to publish the review report as a matter of urgency.
‘The longer the Department of Education & Skills delays publishing the report on the review of the SEN General Allocation Model, the longer children with significant learning difficulties in primary schools will be denied the level of resourcing which the DES itself set down as standard in 2003. They set the ratios, the percentages and the standards based on the numbers in schools in 2003. With 55,000 more children in the system, those ratios are now obsolete’ said Seán Cottrell.
Ends
UK teachers on the edge: but who really cares? [timesonline.co.uk]
- Published: 30 April 2010
I suspect many teachers, like me, are feeling relieved that Peter Harvey, the teacher who battered a difficult pupil about the head with a dumbbell, has been found not guilty of attempted murder. The jury at Nottingham Crown Court took less than two hours to clear Harvey, who, at 50, was a very experienced teacher and a father of two.
Clearly, the jury felt some sympathy with the science teacher because his pupils were planning to provoke a fit of rage so that his reaction could be caught on camera and passed around students. The teacher hit the weight on the 14-year-old’s head while shouting “Die, die, die” after the youth told him to “f*** off”. This boy had disrupted the class nine times before Harvey attacked him. Clearly there was pandemonium in the classroom before the incident took place.
Full Story: www.timesonline.co.uk
