No room for 42 pupils as offer of extra classrooms rejected [Independent.ie]
- Published: 28 April 2010
MORE than 40 pupils are still without a second-level place after hopes of a breakthrough in a school accommodation crisis were dashed yesterday.
The biggest school in the country rejected an offer by Education Minster Mary Coughlan of extra classrooms, which would allow more pupils to be enrolled this year.
The additional accommodation for Gorey Community School was intended as an interim response, pending the building of another school in the town to cater for the fast-growing population in the north Wexford area.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Parents and children can gain from early education [IrishTimes]
- Published: 28 April 2010
EMPOWERING CHILDREN through early education could allow them to voice their fears and equip them with a knowledge of their rights, a health conference in Cork heard yesterday.
Speaking at the Irish Times Health Forum on Children in Ireland , chief executive officer of the Irish Preschool Play Association Irene Gunning said that helping children express themselves required a cultural shift.
Both parents and children could learn practical skills through early childhood programmes, she added.
Responding to a point raised by Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan, who referred to the Savi (Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland) 2002 report which stated children were most at risk in their own home environments, Ms Gunning said the under-six age group needed to be encouraged to express themselves.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Education deadlock 'costs millions' [Independent.ie]
- Published: 27 April 2010
Millions of pounds are being wasted because of the Northern Ireland Executive deadlock over education, the Assembly has heard.
The five governing education and library boards are still in place because Education Minister Caitriona Ruane is unable to gain cabinet consent for replacing them with one organisation.
The DUP is opposed to the Education and Skills Authority (ESA) because it is unhappy with the treatment of controlled schools, attended mostly by Protestant children.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Tory plans for ‘free’ independent schools dealt series of blows [timesonline.co.uk]
- Published: 27 April 2010
Plans by the Conservatives for a new generation of “free” schools set up by parents and community groups suffered a series of blows yesterday as fresh doubts were raised about their funding.
A senior Tory local government leader appeared to break ranks and challenge the policy but within hours issued a statement through the party claiming it had his full support.
Headteachers also raised doubts about the impact on other state schools and challenged the Tories to give more details. Their demand was echoed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which singled out the Tory schools policy in a briefing note, saying the start-up costs, other funding and impact on teachers pay were not clear. In a sternly worded paper, it declared this “unfortunate”.
Full Story: www.timesonline.co.uk
Childhood obesity: A growing epidemic [Independent.ie]
- Published: 27 April 2010
While Michelle Obama spearheads a campaign to combat childhood obesity in the USA, Ireland is turning a blind eye to what experts warn is a future time-bomb in this country.
More than 300,000 Irish children are now clinically overweight or obese, and the National Taskforce on Obesity estimated in 2005 that the number was growing by 10,750 a year. Already, the health problems associated with obesity are making their mark on an overfed and underactive generation.
"Type 2 diabetes was unheard of in young people until recently," says Anna Clarke, Health Promotion and Research Manager with the Diabetes Federation of Ireland. It used to be something people got in their 60s and 70s. Then 10 years ago, four or five teenagers were diagnosed with it. Today, 250 young adults from the age of 14 have it."
Full Story: www.independent.ie
