Wrecking spree by vandals to cost school €60,000 [independent.ie]
- Published: 19 March 2009
Source: independent.ie
By John Fallon
Thursday March 19 2009
A national school in Galway had to close its doors to 360 pupils yesterday morning after it was vandalised for the second time in three days.
Now the school in Moycullen is going to spend €60,000 building a security fence in a bid to beat the vandals, who have struck 12 times in five years.
Vandals smashed windows in Scoil Mhuire on Sunday night but the damage was repaired and the debris cleared up on Monday when the school was closed. But teachers were horrified when they arrived yesterday morning to find that the vandals had struck again on St Patrick's night -- smashing seven large windows and throwing school equipment around.
And the vandals -- believed to be binge drinking locals who may have been past pupils of the village school -- also knocked out a CCTV camera.
Dismay
Assistant school principal Aingeal Ni Chonghaol said there was dismay when it was discovered that the vandals had again struck.
She said that the school now had no option but to erect a large security fence costing €60,000. "Schools are cash-strapped at the moment and this is money which could be used to buy resources, could be used for something positive rather than for something negative.
"But thousands of euro have been paid out over the past few years repairing the damage caused by vandals and it has to stop," she said. The double attack on Scoil Mhuire is the latest in a series of attacks by vandals in Moycullen, a village about 12m west of Galway on the road to Clifden.
The village does not have a high crime level but attacks by vandals have been frequent in recent years. The local Immaculate Conception church was defaced by graffiti in the summer of 2005, while the local community centre was also targeted around then.
A garda spokesman has appealed for witnesses to the latest attacks, with a large group of 15-16 year olds the prime suspects.
Gardai have been unable to identify them from CCTV footage as they were wearing hoodies, while other cameras were destroyed by the vandals.
- John Fallon
Update on Industrial Action [INTO]
- Published: 19 March 2009
Source: INTO
Preparations are continuing in various trade unions, including the INTO, for a one day work stoppage on 30th March in furtherance of the ICTU campaign 'There is a Better, Fairer Way'. A meeting of the executive of the ICTU yesterday reviewed the situation and decided that there was insufficient progress in re-engaging with Government on a framework for national recovery. The executive of ICTU will meet again on Wednesday next, 25th March, when the results of ballots of the various unions throughout the country will be known. That meeting will also review any further progress on an engagement with Government. It was the intention of the CEC that INTO members would be mandated in conjunction with their colleagues in the other teacher unions to engage initially in a series of work to rule strategies culminating in up to 2 days' strike action if necessary.
In the meantime letters will issue from INTO to Chairpersons of Boards of Management throughout the country informing them of the proposed work stoppage on 30th March. A directive will also be issued to all INTO members to support the work stoppage if it goes ahead. A co-ordinating committee of ICTU is currently finalising plans for activities and action on the day. Further details of this will be posted on the website as soon as they are known.
However, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has since called on all affiliated unions to participate in a 1 day work stoppage on 30 March next to force the Government to re-engage with ICTU on its ten point plan which sets out a better and fairer way to manage the economic downturn.
It is important to note that the CEC of the INTO, in keeping with previous practice, has decided that special schools will be exempt from the day of action on 30th March. Further information will be posted on this website as it becomes available.
Special needs review is excuse for cuts, Impact says [Irish Times]
- Published: 19 March 2009
Source: Irish Times
By: EOIN BURKE-KENNEDY
The Department of Education's move to review the allocation of special needs assistants (SNAs) to schools could pave the way for more education cuts effecting thousands of vulnerable children, trade union Impact warned today.
The union, which represents over 3,000 SNAs, believes the Department is using the review as a cover to impose more education cuts.
"Our major concern now is that the Department is using this review as an excuse to make cuts in the provision of the SNA service," Impact national secretary Peter Nolan said today.
"That means vulnerable children are further disadvantaged, and the potential for job losses in an area that has been one of the most progressive in education in the last decade," he said.
A circular, issued to schools by the Department yesterday, said it had asked the National Council for Special Education to review special needs assistant allocations in all schools "with a view to ensuring that the criteria governing the allocation of such posts are properly met".
The move comes after last month's controversial decision to cut special needs classes for children with mild learning difficulties.
Labour Party equality spokeswoman Kathleen Lynch said it would appear that Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe is attempting to soften us up for another round of cuts which will impact on children with special needs.
Ms Lynch said: "Any reduction in the SNA numbers will mean that not only will these children themselves suffer, but so too will their classmates, as a further burden will be placed on the classroom teachers who are already under huge pressure."
"Teachers cannot be expected to have all the skills required to provide for a child with special needs and they need whatever support they can get," she said.
There are currently over 10,000 SNAs in schools.
They support pupils, within the mainstream classroom, with difficulties who have a significant medical need for such assistance.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation said last night the Minister must look at the special needs of children as an educational issue rather than a financial one. It said "there can be no question of withdrawing essential supports to children and leaving schools to cope as best they can".
A ministerial spokesman insisted the criteria for the allocation of SNAs is not being changed. "If a pupil qualifies for support, SNAs will continue to be provided."
Impact today urged its members to back industrial action in a ballot currently underway, to give it a mandate to resist similar cuts in health, local government and education.
Families forced into 'us or them' court battle for autism education [Independent.ie]
- Published: 18 March 2009
Source: Independent.ie
Wednesday March 18 2009
A family has criticised the Department of Education for forcing them to go to the High Court to ensure that their four-year-old son can attend school.
Rod and Jane Johnstone of Baldwinstown, Co Wexford, were one of two families at the centre of a recent case that saw Scoil Mhuire in Coolcotts, Wexford town, take the Department of Education to the High Court.
Their son, Daniel (4), was one of two children the school's autism unit was ordered to enrol -- despite only one place being available.
The other child, aged 10, is from Co Carlow and his parents appealed to a committee -- established under Section 29 of the Education Act -- which allows appeals on behalf of children whose enrolment applications have been refused. The committee ordered Scoil Mhuire to enrol their son.
As a result, Rod and Jane were told that Daniel could not start at the school, despite being top of the waiting list. They took their own Section 29 appeal, and the Department of Education ordered the school to enrol their four-year-old son.
But the board of management of Scoil Mhuire then instituted High Court proceedings to quash the enrolment orders.
The Johnstone family were notice parties and engaged legal representation, as did the other family involved.
"Both families just wanted to give their children the best chance they possibly could, but the department forced us into a position where it was us against them," said Jane.
After several days in the High Court, the department backed down and settled the case -- with legal costs in excess of €300,000.
"It could all have been avoided and that money . . . would have paid for 10 special needs assistants," said Rod.
Daniel's older brother Evan (8) also suffers from autism and attends the unit at Scoil Mhuire, and they have a big sister Ciara (10).
According to Jane: "Life isn't a bed of roses and the last thing you need is to go to the High Court to fight for something as basic as an education. Ten months of our lives were dominated by this."
- Conor Cullen
Hundreds of college jobs facing the chop [Independent.ie]
- Published: 16 March 2009
By John Walshe Education Editor - Monday March 16 2009
HUNDREDS of jobs will be axed across higher education under drastic plans to merge courses and close small college departments to save money.
With the public finances continuing to deteriorate, and pressure mounting to slash the €2bn bill taxpayers pay for higher education, the Irish Independent has learned that radical plans are being drawn up to tackle the crisis.
The cuts will hit staff and students in all universities and institutes of technology, where rationalisation of courses is now seen as inevitable.
The measures will include a third-level voluntary redundancy scheme and a significant reduction in the number of courses being offered.
The most likely first casualties are the 21 schools of engineering. Apart from duplication of courses in different colleges in the same cities, quite a number of the courses do not have enough students.
Reducing some of the options and amalgamating courses are on the cards. This would mean some students and staff transferring from one institution to another.
Arts courses will also be looked at in detail, with each subject evaluated on how many students are enrolled.
For instance, the six departments of Italian in our colleges are seen as being too many.
There is also a belief that there is unnecessary duplication in some areas of science, especially in those programmes that are seriously under-subscribed.
The plans, which have yet to go to Government, are being developed by the Higher Education Authority in consultation with all the other main players in third-level education. Both the Irish Universities Association (IUA), Institutes of Technology Ireland (IoTI), as well as Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe, have signed up to the need for rationalisation of courses.
Urgent
On Wednesday, the minister's officials will meet the three- member Bord Snip to review where urgent savings can be made -- higher education will be one of the key areas for cuts.
It is unlikely that mergers or closures can be agreed in time for the next academic year in September but they are expected to take place from next year.
Both the IUA and IoTI are set to examine where rationalisation can take place while the Higher Education Authority will drive the process forward with specific proposals.
The Government will then be asked to approve a voluntary redundancy deal for academics in the areas affected, but not across the board.
It will be told that savings can be made through rationalisation of courses, which would pay the cost of the voluntary redundancy scheme.
The numbers involved would be far fewer than the 2,000 to 4,000 voluntary redundancies proposed for the Health Service Executive. However, it was reported yesterday that the proposal for the health sector was running into difficulties because of the €300m price tag.
Sources said engineering will be the first obvious target, given the difficulty some colleges have in filling all the available places.
But some science courses, which cannot fill their places, will also be merged, despite the importance of both engineering and science graduates to the economy.
Similarly, smaller arts departments and courses where student numbers are tiny will be affected.
The six schools of medicine, however, are likely to be spared because they are fully subscribed and earn significant revenue from non-EU students who pay full economic charges.
- John Walshe Education Editor
