INTO says €1bn investment in science favours 'tiny elite'
- Published: 15 December 2008
Source: Irish Independent
Monday December 15 2008
A teaching union has accused the government of investing millions in a tiny elite of students involved in science and research while under-investing in primary education.
Almost €1.5bn of taxpayers' money has been spent on science research and innovation since the start of the last year compared to what the INTO said was "under-investment" in primary education.
Union general secretary John Carr said the Government was cutting back educational spending that benefited everyone while investing in a small number of elite students.
"It is akin to high-profile investment in elite athletes in advance of the Olympics which contributes nothing to the health, fitness and well-being of the general population."
But the first report on the implementation of the 'Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) 2006-2013' defends the spending and outlines how it is helping the economy.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen says in the report that the aim is to build a world-class research system and "commercialise" ideas and know-how.
The Tanaiste Mary Coughlan says that Enterprise Ireland has developed a range of schemes to ensure we have the capacity to capture and transform the ideas and advances coming from higher education into commercial reality.
The report discloses that the number of patents had risen from 107 in 2006 to 137 last year. Meanwhile, 40pc of new IDA projects were in research and development activities.
These included:
l Business objects which will invest €29m to create 100 IT research posts.
l Boston Scientific which will invest €50m in strategic medical devices R&D in Galway.
l CITI which will base its €35m RDI investment in next generation e-banking in Dublin.
Mrs Coughlan said it was necessary that we capture the interest of young people so that they go on to study science engineering and technology subjects at third and fourth level and take up and create well-paid jobs.
Identified
As well as higher education, the report covers science and research changes in areas such as agriculture, health, the environment, marine and energy.
It says that Galway Bay has been identified as the location for SmartBay, a revolutionary new test-bed for the development of environmental technologies and services being developed in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Enterprise Ireland, the third-level sector and other agencies.
The system is being developed through a growing series of partnerships with Irish and overseas industries.
The seven-year science strategy stated its aim for 2013 as international recognition for Ireland as a centre for research excellence and innovation-driven culture.
- John Walshe Education Editor
O'Keeffe in new U-turn on teacher sick leave regulations
- Published: 13 December 2008
John Walshe Education Editor
A second climbdown on substitute cover for teachers who take uncertified sick leave was announced yesterday by Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe.
This time, it is primary schools who will benefit from an additional €2m up to next July. It follows an agreement last week to give second-level schools an extra €2.7m.
The extra money will go a considerable way to averting school closures and pupils being sent home next month.
Primary schools will get substitute cover for teachers on uncertified sick leave except for the first day of absence. In other words, most primary schools will have to provide 'cover' for the first day of uncertified sick leave absence by one teacher.
This is usually done by dividing up the pupils to other classes. But paid substitution will kick in on the second day.
In a school where more than one teacher is absent on the first day of uncertified sick leave, substitute cover will be provided for the second and subsequent teachers that are absent. In one- and two-teacher schools, cover will be provided where any teacher is absent.
Last night's statement also disclosed that each post-primary school will have a defined number of hours of cover outside of the existing supervision and substitution scheme.
The Irish Independent has learned that this will be calculated by the number of pupils in a school with a minimum number of available hours for all schools with less than 100 pupils. "Thus, for the remainder of the school year, there will be 16 hours substitution cover allocated for schools with 100 pupils or less, 32 hours for a 200-pupil school and 64 hours for a 400-pupil school, for example," says the draft circular.
There will be a full review of the substitution and supervision scheme and related matters in conjunction with the school management bodies and teacher unions at both primary and post-primary levels.
The breakthrough at primary level follows talks with the school managerial bodies. Paul Rowe of Educate Together thanked the minister for listening to the views of Primary Management Bodies, and for inviting them to make proposals to him on this matter.
Cooperate
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) said the union would co-operate with the proposal from the department as a gesture of good will.
"This is an interim solution," said INTO general secretary John Carr, "which will enable us to reduce the effects of the Budget cutbacks on children."
The Irish Primary Principals Network gave a broad welcome to the announcement. But director Sean Cottrell said IPPN was still concerned that it still left children without a teacher for the first day of absence.
Fine Gael education spokesperson Brian Hayes urged parents and teachers to continue pressure Fianna Fail.
U-turn on cuts to avert threat of school closures
- Published: 13 December 2008
Source: Irish Times
SEÁN FLYNN, Education Editor
Sat, Dec 13, 2008
A SIGNIFICANT rowing back on proposed cuts to substitution cover in primary schools has been agreed by Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe.
The move means the threat of school closures next month over the substitution issue has been averted. It follows a similar row back on proposed cuts in second-level substitution cover last week.
The Budget had proposed eliminating substitute cover for primary teachers absent without a medical certificate. But the new deal represents a significant rowing back.
Under the new agreement - worked out between the Department of Education and primary school managers - there will be substitute cover for teachers on uncertified sick leave other than on the first day of absence.
In a school where more than one teacher is absent on the first day of uncertified sick leave, substitute cover will be provided for the second and subsequent teachers that are absent. In schools with two teachers or less, cover will be provided where any classroom teacher is absent.
The new arrangements for primary schools have an estimated cost of €2 million. For secondary schools, the bill will be €5 million in a full year, although the Minister has secured €16 million in savings by limiting some forms of cover. The department is stressing these are interim arrangements pending the results of a full review of the substitution and supervision scheme involving the department and school managers.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation said the latest climb-down was forced by the huge success of the campaign against the Budget which culminated in last weekend's demonstration by over 50,000 in Dublin.
John Carr, its general secretary, said: "The consequences of the budget cutbacks for children were obvious to parents and management and their wholehearted support for the protest marches was a clear signal to government that something had to be done."
Mr Carr said this was the first achievement of the INTO's campaign against cutbacks. The INTO said the union would co-operate with the proposal from the department as a gesture of goodwill. "This is an interim solution," said Mr Carr, "which will enable us to reduce the effects of the Budget cutbacks on children." He said further talks on the issue of substitution would take place in January.
The INTO called on the Minister to reciprocate the union's goodwill by entering into talks on school staffing.
The Irish Primary Principals Network has said it is happy that the Minister has agreed short-term plans for substitute cover for teachers on sick leave.
However, the organisation says it feels the plan does not address the real need of schools because the first day of leave is not covered and this is often the most difficult to make plans for.
The Catholic Primary School Managers' Association said the move will make it easier for schools to manage when teachers are ill.
The multidenominational body, Educate Together, also thanked Mr O'Keeffe for "listening to the views of primary management bodies, and for inviting us to make proposals to him on this matter".
© 2008 The Irish Times
Children 'will be forced to quit school over costs'
- Published: 12 December 2008
CHILDREN will be forced to drop out of school next year as the economy plunges deeper into recession, the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) warned yesterday.
National vice-president Prof John Monaghan said education cuts in the budget would discourage young people from poorer homes in better-off areas from remaining in school.
He was part of the SVP delegation who briefed the joint Oireachtas committee for social and family affairs on the current extraordinary pressure on the society's financial and human resources.
Prof Monaghan warned children will come under increased pressure to drop out of school because of the removal of the book grant scheme; the increased cost of the transition year; the removal of child benefit for 18-year-olds and the increase in third-level registration fees.
He was also concerned at the impact of the reduction in the budget of the School Completion Programme and programmes, such as Youth Reach, would further disadvantage young people form poorer areas.
"We are concerned children will feel under pressure to leave school without completing their Leaving Certificate examination and look for jobs that will not be well-paid ones," said Prof Monaghan.
"I hope we are wrong in our prediction for next year, but it is a real fear we have for children of parents who are coming under increasing financial pressure," he said.
Prof Monaghan said poverty was already a fact of life for many people and was likely to increase dramatically over the coming year.
This weekend the SVP will make their annual Christmas appeal. It needs to raise €10 million to get through Christmas and the new year — double what they looked for last year.
Prof Monaghan pointed out that less than 10% of their annual funding comes from the state.
SVP is expecting calls for help over the first four months of next year will be 60% more than they were over the same period in 2008.
Some SVP branches are already running out of money, particularly those in inner city areas. "There is a lot of anxiety; a lot of pain, and a lot of fear out there," Prof Monaghan warned.
Labour spokeswoman on social and family affairs Roisín Shortall said families would find they were far worse off in the coming months as a result of changes in the way jobseekers' benefit is paid.
Fine Gael's Catherine Byrne said the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin, did not understand what it was like to be struggling. "The woman is out of sync with what is happening out there."
Fianna Fáil's Cyprian Brady said nobody in government liked the budget changes, but insisted they were made to ensure the most vulnerable were looked after.
"One thing that deputies on the other side are right about is that it is going to get worse and it is going to get harder," he said.
Senator Martin Brady (FF) said there were some people who believed organisations like the SVP were assisting people who were getting enough money but were not spending it properly. "We need to educate the public about the services provided by organisations like the SVP and why they are needed," he said.
Ireland bottom of class for childcare and early learning
- Published: 12 December 2008
Friday December 12 2008
Ireland comes bottom of the class in terms of early childhood education and care, an embarrassing international study of economically advanced countries has shown.
In Ireland more than 60pc of women with young children are in work, but fewer than 20pc of children under the age of three are in licensed childcare.
The report, from UNICEF, sets down 10 benchmarks relating to what governments should be doing to ensure childcare is managed in the best interests of children and society.
The best-performing country is Sweden, which meets all 10 benchmarks. But Ireland shares the dubious distinction, along with Australia and Canada, of having met only one of the benchmarks -- dealing with qualification of childcare staff.
Children's Minister Barry Andrews disputed some of the report's findings, saying that advances over the past 18 months made a number of them out of date. He claimed that Ireland did better than reported in terms of eliminating child poverty. But he agreed that more needed to be done.
The report shows that we have the second lowest percentage of four-year-olds enrolled in early education, with Switzerland in bottom place. For children aged three to six, we're just above the OECD average.
Only half of the 25 OECD counties meet the benchmark dealing with staff-to-children ratios. The report says that significant increases will be necessary "in some wealthier countries, such as Ireland, where the youngest children are often assigned to classes with the least favourable staff-to-children ratios".
The report says that at least one per cent of GDP should be spent on early childhood services. Ireland and Korea have the lowest percentages.
It says there is no convincing reason for spending less on early childhood education and care than on the educational needs of older children.
Commenting on the report, the Children's Rights Alliance called for greater investment in early childhood education.
- John Walshe Education Editor
