Teacher's Pet [IrishTimes]
- Published: 17 October 2011
An insider's guide to education
Quinn’s big dilemma on budget cuts
Only one issue dominating staffroom discussions this week – those possible cuts in the €200 million supervision and substitution scheme for teachers.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn is refusing to comment on his plans but it’s clear the department is casting around for savings. While no final decision has been taken, the department’s focus is fixed on allowances and extra payments made to teachers over and above their salaries. The department’s line? Something has to give. And cutting extra payments is the best way to protect frontline services. With pay and pensions absorbing over 70 per cent of the €9 billion education budget, Quinn’s room for manoeuvre is limited. The expected increase in class size will deliver savings of about €80 million. But the Minister knows he needs to make other big ticket savings if he is to “deliver’’ (as he put it) for Brendan Howlin. This is why teachers’ pay is in the firing line. Bord Snip found teachers in Ireland receive about 35 per cent more than their British counterparts. It also highlighted generous supervision and substitution payments and other allowances.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Financial pressures lead to rise in calls to parenting line [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 17 October 2011
Many more parents in Ireland may have been looking for help with raising their children in the past year due to the impact of the recession.
This is according to statistics from parenting advice service Parentline, which show more than 4,000 families turned to its phone line for assistance over the past 10 months, the Irish Times reports.
Chief executive of the group Rita O'Reilly said the figures show many people are in need of additional support due to the extra pressures in their lives at the moment, brought on by the recession and financial difficulties.
More than a fifth of calls related to "teenage issues" such as depression, discipline and staying out late, while 11 per cent were related to abuse.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Collooney principal bullied schoolboy [sligotoday.ie]
- Published: 17 October 2011
The father of a young schoolboy who was awarded €7,500 after being persistently bullied by his principal has spoken out about his son's ordeal.
The boy was only in fourth class when the bullying by his teacher became so bad that his parents were advised by doctors to transfer him to a different school.
Last week the school, St Paul's NS in Collooney, was ordered to pay €7,500 to the former pupil who was described as an intellectually gifted boy who had thrived before going into fourth class.
The settlement hearing at Sligo Circuit Court was told that the then principal, Joyce Gillmor, who was also the boy's teacher when he entered fourth class in September 2008, bullied and humiliated pupils.
Full Story: www.sligotoday.ie
Minister Quinn gives Oireachtas Committee opportunity to input into legislation to establish new Education and Training Boards [merrionstreet.ie]
- Published: 17 October 2011
The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., announced today that following approval of the Government he has referred the General Scheme of an Education and Training Boards Bill to the Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education.
Education and Training Boards will take over the work of the VECs and will have an expanded role in the delivery of further education and training across the country.
Announcing the move, Minister Quinn said, “This new Bill will consolidate the existing nine Vocational Education Acts and will reflect the enhanced future role of the Sector.”
The new Bill is a substantial piece of legislation with ten parts, five schedules and over 60 sections.
It provides for the legal establishment of the new Education and Training Boards, sets out the functions of the boards, taking account of the development of the sector over the years, and it facilitates further enhancement of the role of the sector into the future including its proposed role in relation to SOLAS.
Full Story: www.merrionstreet.ie
Importance of Maths goes far beyond the classroom [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 17 October 2011
As Maths Week aims to promote the positive aspects of the subject, we must all be sure to make our children aware of its practical uses in life, writes Eoin Gill.
ALL across Ireland this week over 100,000 people are taking part in a festival of maths events.
Maths Week is a cooperative effort of almost 50 partners: universities, institutes of technology, professional bodies, visitor centres and other groups interested in promoting maths. Hundreds of schools are also taking part, arranging special activities to engage their pupils with maths.
The events highlight the importance of maths as well as getting people to think of maths in a new way.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
