Cool response to partial lifting of ban on filling posts [Independent.ie]
- Published: 07 April 2010
THE proposed partial lifting of the ban on filling posts of responsibility in schools has been given a cool reception by teachers.
Newly-appointed Education Minister Mary Coughlan confirmed a limited alleviation of the moratorium on the filling of middle-management posts.
But secondary teachers at the annual ASTI convention in Galway described the moratorium as a further pay cut to teachers who were long overdue promotion, while everybody was in the dark about exactly what the minister was proposing.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Schools seeking financial help from charity [Independent.ie]
- Published: 07 April 2010
GROWING numbers of hard-up families and schools are seeking financial help from the St Vincent de Paul (SVP) because of education cuts.
Now the charity has appealed for no changes to textbooks for next September, to take the pressure off parents' pockets.
The call came as a teachers' union leader attacked the Government bailout of the banks and bankers, at a time when the school book grant, which benefited 288,000 pupils from needy families in 2008, was cut.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
A harsh lesson for all of us [Independent.ie]
- Published: 07 April 2010
THE Tanaiste must be reasonably inured to heckles and jeers by now, having had to deliver bad news on so many occasions in the Dail, but it's not often that she gets booed for stating the obvious in clear and unambiguous language.
Mary Coughlan warned teachers of further significant cuts in public spending yesterday when she made her first speech as Education Minister.
She told delegates at the INTO conference in Galway that the public finances still had to be stabilised and that the Government would have to commit less money to public services for the foreseeable future.
The Government needs another €3bn in the next Budget, combined with 3pc growth next year if the country is to have any chance of recovery within an acceptable time frame.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Union rift over pay widens as teachers jeer Coughlan [Independent.ie]
- Published: 07 April 2010
THE split between teachers over the controversial pay deal widened yesterday.
INTO leaders are now confident their members will swing in behind the package after a narrow vote in Galway.
But the Teachers' Union of Ireland congress yesterday unanimously rejected the deal. Delegates also turned their ire on the "arrogant" leadership of ICTU for recommending what TUI president Don Ryan described as a "massive con job".
Meanwhile the other post primary union, the ASTI, will today pass an emergency motion expressing "total and vehement opposition" to the agreement.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Coughlan backs plan to boost maths intake [Independent.ie]
- Published: 07 April 2010
Education Minister Mary Coughlan today backed a bonus points system for higher Leaving Cert maths to encourage more students to take up the subject at third level.
The Tanaiste told the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) annual conference in Co Clare that more needed to be done to help increase the number of science and maths graduates.
Her predecessor, Batt O'Keeffe, who set up a top level group of experts to review the country's performance in maths, had initially been opposed to the idea.
But Ms Coughlan said there was a need to take steps in the right direction.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
