TUI calls for Education & Training Dept [rte.ie]
- Published: 25 February 2010
The Teacher's Union of Ireland has called for the establishment of the Department of Education & Training.The request is to remove what it called the artificial divide between what is regarded as education and what is regarded as training.
The TUI were addressing an Oireachtas committee today.
The union said additional training places created last year by the Government should have been given to the Further Education sector instead of to FÁS.
Full Story: www.rte.ie
62 inspection reports published on Department's website [education.ie]
- Published: 25 February 2010
A total of 62 school inspection-reports were published today on the Department of Education and Science website. New inspection reports on the web today include
8 whole-school evaluations (WSE) at primary level
4 whole-school evaluations at post-primary level including 15 subject inspections
31 stand-alone subject inspections
Full Story: www.education.ie
No timeframe given for full use of special needs law passed in 2004 [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 25 February 2010
EDUCATION Minister Batt O’Keeffe was unable to give a timeframe last night for full implementation of a law passed in 2004 to give educational rights to people with special needs.
Accused by Fine Gael Senator Fidelma Healy Eames of waging unjust war on children with special educational needs through the withdrawal of about 1,200 special needs assistants (SNAs) from schools, Mr O’Keeffe defended the Government’s commitment to special needs education which will receive more than €1 billion this year.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.comLet’s go back to blackboard on our schools [Independent.ie]
- Published: 25 February 2010
THERE is a sense of rising panic about the quality of our education system. A consensus is emerging that it is just not producing the right people with the right mix of skills to meet the current economic and social crisis.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has been saying it for years. It is one of the few voices in the educational wilderness calling for urgent change in the way students are taught and assessed, particularly in secondary schools.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Students urge O’Keeffe to end promotions ban [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 25 February 2010
SECOND-level students have urged Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe to reach agreement with teacher unions over the ban on middle-management promotions, which they claim may cause schools to grind under the pressure of being underfunded.
The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union expressed disappointment that the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) are to escalate industrial action to ban members from fulfilling duties of posts of responsibility left vacant due to retirement or other reasons.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
