Teachers, be honest about your intentions
- Published: 03 November 2008
Teachers, be honest about your intentions
Fancy paying 55 per cent income tax to fund education? Thought not, writes Emer O'Kelly
The united public face against the cuts in primary teacher provision is gratifying; to have the teachers so selflessly defending their small pupils, and co-operating with parents and churches in a determined onslaught to prevent a slide in education standards, must give us all hope for the future.
After all, Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe has ensured that, overnight, our children will go from being the most advantaged, privileged, philosophically mature youngsters in Europe to being neanderthal morons, unable to cope with society.
Without the selfless campaign of the Into, we might even reach a situation in the future where one in five of our children would leave school unable to read or write. Oops, sorry. That's the case now, not a doomsday future scenario resulting from an increase in the pupil:teacher ratio from one teacher to 27 children to one teacher to 28 children.
Putting it bluntly, in marching on the Dail, in shouting loudly about the vulnerable in our society, the teachers know they are on to a good thing. Say it loudly enough, belligerently enough and often enough when emotions are high, and people are numbed into believing something: reason goes out the door.
Heaven knows, I'm no admirer of the Irish education system. We virtually ignore the humanities, leaving the low achievers in the education system without a value structure and a fallback position in adult society when they fail to become high fliers in business and the professions. History and philosophy, the two cornerstones of education (they give people the ability to analyse and find context) are treated with increasing contempt.
Education is supposed to serve people and make them whole, not train them to serve a Government-structured module of society -- as is the case with our so-called "magnificent education system".
If the teachers were marching on the Dail to say that, we might get somewhere. If the parents thought beyond the points system, we might get somewhere. But the mindless, rancid demonstrations of recent days have merely proved that our education system has failed utterly: products of a decent system would have done more than react with knee-jerk expletives and terms like the Into's John Carr's "education sabotage".
Yes, it is appalling that we should have 28 children to every teacher at primary school level. But the proposed cuts have merely dis-improved an already inadequate structure very slightly. It is not educational Armageddon.
A truly comprehensive and well-structured primary education system would ensure that no child, whether as bright as a button or a slow learner, whether fit and healthy or physically handicapped, would be in a class of more than 12. A truly comprehensive education system that believed in getting the priorities right would ensure that, if necessary, it would be third level and beyond which would suffer hardship in hard times: to prioritise college and university education to the detriment of primary school structures is the ultimate in discrimination.
And that is without even mentioning the fact that one in every five people who comes through our "education" system does so without learning to read and write.
So just what are people demonstrating about? Why have the public swallowed the politically motivated spin that last month we had a superb education system, and this month it has been reduced to the ashes of non-achievement?
The minister is right when he says that his decision will make the system take one step back in order to (hopefully) take two steps forward when the economy improves; but the steps are on a road which is far from being motorway standard in the first place.
Actually, it's possible to postulate that the teachers have orchestrated their protests in order to distract attention from the fact that there is to be a three per cent increase in the education budget over the next year. Because if the public do their sums, they will realise that the increase, when most other departments have suffered a decrease, is being entirely swallowed up by a monumental increase in teachers' salaries.
That is due to a benchmarking process entered into during the "good years," for which there was supposed to be a quid pro quo. But teachers do not work longer or more intensive hours since benchmarking, and they certainly are not delivering the goods: one in five adults functionally illiterate.
According to Paul Rowe of the admirable group Educate Together, the "wealthy got off comparatively lightly" in the Budget. Rowe, an obviously articulate and intelligent man, should know better than to come up with the "solution" implied by such a remark. He knows that "wealthy" is a comparative term.
And even if every person who earns more than €100,000 a year in this country were to be taxed at, say, 60 per cent of his or her earnings, it would still not be enough to provide a proper education and health system that is free to all. There just aren't enough high earners.
There is one way we can have an education system and a health system that are comparable to those in the northern European countries: we can pay for them through our taxes. That means that every wage earner in the country is taxed at 55 per cent of his or her income -- only those on the minimum wage being exempted.
How many of those storming the Dail during the week are prepared for that as a reform? How many hypocritical members of the Labour Party who screamed in outrage when the medical card was introduced for everyone over the age of 70 ("privilege for millionaires"), and are now screeching at its withdrawal, would support such a reform?
Indeed, asked during the week if he would agree that teachers should accept a pay cut, rather than the comparatively massive increase scheduled for them this year, John Carr of the Into had the brass neck to say that salary reduction is not the way to finance services. This is a man who represents teachers, supposed to be the intellectual elite of our society: and he can't add or subtract. Services can be paid for without anybody paying for them, it seems.
Education is something that is very dear to my heart; I would accept an increase in my tax bill if it gave the children of this country an unparalleled quality of education.
How many people are prepared to say the same thing, unequivocally, in good or bad times? And how many people are prepared to analyse all the howls of outrage and see through to the one real nugget from the teachers: some of them will be out of their cushy jobs as a result of the cutbacks. That's what they're demonstrating about. And they're entitled to; but they should have the basic honesty not to hide behind children.
And the parents of the vulnerable children are the truly gullible ones if they believe these men and women who close their doors behind them at three in the afternoon, and take off for two months in the sun each summer, leaving their "leaders" to splutter ungrammatically and inarticulately on their behalf in the media.
Cutbacks will turn our children into racist bigots
- Published: 03 November 2008
The Budget cuts will result in an unjust two-tier system of education, writes Carol Hunt
Afew weeks ago, the five-year-old proudly told me the name of his new friend in school. "He's called 'Barcode'?" The little man nods emphatically. "Are you sure?" I asked, thinking I'd heard a few odd monikers in my time, from 'Coca Cola' to 'Winner', but this was a new one on me. "That's what he told me," says the five-year-old. "And he comes from another country, far away," his eyes light up at the exoticness of it all.
"Where is he from?" I ask. "Ehh, somewhere else. Somewhere that's not here," he answers cryptically.
Soon after, we discover that the child has not been named after a nightclub in north Dublin's Clontarf, but bears the perfectly normal Polish name Bartek.
The five-year-old sounds almost disappointed as he confesses his mistake.
My daughter, a sophisticated second-former, is thrilled to inform me that there's a beautiful new girl in her class called 'Gift'. "She's from somewhere in Africa I think," she enthuses. "It begins with 'N'."
I show her where Nigeria is on the map, and she is fascinated. "Maybe when I'm a bit older we can go visit there."
Both my kids attend a nearby inner-city school. There's a veritable smorgasbord of children there from all types of families. Locals, whose people have lived here for generations, blow-ins like ourselves who moved for the centrality and sense of community, and of course the immigrant families who came here for work and now stay because they -- and their children -- have put down roots, made friends and settled.
It reminds me of Queens, NY, during the Eighties. So many Irish couples I knew moved there, settled and had kids, who were then sent to the local school where they picked up a coveted 'Nuu Yoyek' accent.
Similarly, kids at our school who profess to come from Mittel Europa (in one of the junior classes, more than 50 per cent) speak with accents that Brendan Behan, a local boy, would have approved of.
But in many cases the children are just starting to get their tongues around the language. It's tough on them, because even though their parents are asked to try speaking English at home, inevitably they keep lapsing back into their native tongue.
"There isn't any point in my giving him homework," I overheard the senior infant teacher saying to a 'newcomer' mum. "Not until his English improves. So please speak it with him as much as possible." The mother nods, desperate to help her child integrate into their adopted home.
Luckily, the school employs several language support teachers. The kids learn their English at a much quicker rate, which means that they aren't at such a disadvantage in class. Just as importantly, the teacher can concentrate on teaching the whole class the form curriculum, so the other students -- the locals and blow-ins -- are not handicapped by the others.
Which is why last week's Budget cuts in education have posed a bit of a conundrum. The headmistress said that, in all her years of teaching, she had never heard a Government actually admit that they were going to increase class-sizes. In the past they've always given the nod to a commitment to smaller numbers, regardless of that actually happening or not.
So we are hit with a triple whammy. Class sizes to be increased. No substitute teachers provided in certain circumstances and -- a wallop for our school -- language support teachers reduced to two per school, regardless of how many students actually need them. Not to mention the reduction in book and library grants.
No matter how the minister tries to spin it, many children will suffer, and the most vulnerable children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds will suffer most.
My kids are not disadvantaged, nor are they vulnerable. But many of their classmates are. The school they attend is heavily dependent on public monies because wealthier local families (what few have remained here) prefer to send their offspring to private schools. The teachers are extraordinarily committed, giving up free time, not just to help the children, but also to coach parents on the curriculum so that they can help their children at home.
When we moved into this area we made a conscious decision to send our kids to the local school. We believe that being part of a vibrant, eclectic, mixed community is good for our children's development -- as well as being good for society as a whole. We have always prided ourselves in Ireland on the egalitarian nature of our education system. Getting kids from all types of backgrounds to mix in the playground is the first lesson in avoiding a splintered society.
But society (or, at least, society as represented by our Government) seems to be against us on this one. Whatever about the implications of classes having to close because of no substitute teachers, or quieter children being neglected in larger classes, cutting back on language support teachers means:
A: Newcomer children, and their parents, will be blamed for 'holding back' native Irish students;
B: Parents who can afford to will move their children from integrated local schools to private 'single culture' schools. (In the US, it's known as the Black 'Flu.)
C: Irish parents who do not have the luxury of changing schools will become very resentful of 'foreigners' (they will no longer be accorded the status of 'new Irish') who are taking places in their local schools and holding back their children. Children -- always quick to pick up the prejudices of parents -- will learn how to be bigoted little racists in the playground.
Conclusion: we end up with one of the most blatant two-tier education systems in Europe. Poor kids and immigrants go to the badly funded State schools. All other families beggar themselves paying for private schooling. Follow this on to ghettoes and gated communities.
So, should we hold tight to the Republican principles espoused in the 1916 Proclamation and keep our children in the local school, despite the fact that our Government seems determined to downgrade it, and our kids may suffer?
Have we the right to force our well-meaning ideology on our children?
Or should we pack up and move to a mono-cultural suburb or pay for the kids to be educated privately, in a school where all the other kids are middle-class and Irish, thus ensuring that our children get a good Leaving Certificate but never learn to mix with children in other socio-economic or racial groups?
Yes, I know that there's a recession and we are spending €10m per day that we don't have. Yes, I know that we all have to tighten our belts. The situation is so serious that a few cuts here and there just won't suffice.
And yes, I also know that people who work harder and cleverer and take risks deserve recompense for their efforts, in the form of nicer homes, bigger cars and more foreign holidays. They're worth it, right?
But a good education and health service are the bedrocks of a just society. (Not an equal one, because no egalitarian society can remain completely equal.)
Depriving some people of the right to a healthy life (which a two-tier health service will do) because they are poor is both unjust and unconstitutional.
And depriving many vulnerable children of an adequate educational system is visiting what this Government seems to believe is 'the sins of the fathers' upon them.
That is, the relative poverty of their parents in comparison to the wealth of the Celtic Tiger Arrivistes: the bankers, builders, barristers, politicians et al who made a bundle during the boom -- the people who don't need medical cards and can afford to send their children to the 'best' schools.
These are people who have been lecturing the rest of us on 'patriotism' when they would do well to remember the words of Clarence Darrow: "True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else." (I won't quote Dr Johnson on "patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel".)
And justice also has to be seen to be done, which is why so many people protested in front of Leinster House last week.
Have any politicians lost their jobs or been held accountable in any way for the waste of public finances that was decentralisation, the e-voting fiasco, the leaking Dublin port tunnel, the craziness of benchmarking, the HSE mess? The list seems endless, but the answer is a categorical, "No."
Paying for your mistakes, like taxes, would seem to be purely for the little people.
Controversy over Budget 2009
- Published: 03 November 2008
Controversy over Budget 2009
Mon, Nov 03, 2008
A Chara, - Ibec director general Turlough O'Sullivan should apologise for describing anti-Budget protests as "not edifying" (The Irish Times, October 31st).
Is Mr O'Sullivan seriously suggesting that it is not edifying to see pensioners demanding that their entitlements are protected, to see students marching on the Dáil in their thousands, or to see parents and teachers standing together for the sake of the children of the nation? Surely it is the uncaring and savage attack on the most vulnerable sections of the population that is far from edifying.
It is not edifying to be terrified by the potential withdrawal of your medical card. It is not edifying for educational grants to be withdrawn in such a cold and calculating manner from the most marginalised in our society, such as Travellers, the disadvantaged and newcomer children.
It is clear that Mr O'Sullivan is out of touch with society and everyday reality. He should apologise for his remark which, in my view, insults the old, the students, parents and children of the country. - Is mise,
Cllr AODHAN Ó RIORDÁIN,
Labour Party Councillor and Primary School Principal,
Clonliffe Avenue,
Dublin 3.
© 2008 The Irish Times
Important First Steps
- Published: 03 November 2008
Source : Irish Times
EDUCATION: Primary education is the best point at which to tackle educational disadvantage and to encourage the growth of the knowledge economy, yet its funding seems to be systematically neglected by Government,writes AILBHE KENNY
THE GOVERNMENT constantly reiterates its commitment to the importance of education for the future of economic growth and the development of a knowledge economy. However, there are blatant contradictions between such statements and the Government's actions, particularly in the recent Budget.
Even before the latest cuts, the 2008 OECD figures revealed education spending in Ireland has been insufficient to match rapidly rising student numbers. Many OECD countries spend 6.2 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on educational institutions. In Ireland this figure is 4.6 per cent of GDP.
The figures show that in Ireland the proportion of GDP spent on education actually decreased between 1995 and 2005. Over the so-called Celtic Tiger period, it seems the island got richer, but education got poorer.
School running costs, such as energy, insurance and cleaning, are not paid for by the State and often individual school fundraising must make up this shortfall. Teachers are relatively well paid on an EU scale, but school facilities are in very bad shape.
The issue now is dealing with how money translates into educational provision.
Primary education in Ireland has changed significantly over the past decade. The increasing focus on investment in "human capital" is reflected in the many laudable aims of the 1999 revised primary school curriculum.
The curriculum emphasises a child-centred approach to learning, where the pupil is envisaged as "an active agent" in their own education. The idea of self-directed, developmental learning is embedded in the primary curriculum's aims and objectives, fostering life-long learning capabilities. The curriculum has also expanded into science, drama and social, personal and health education. All teachers received in-service and curriculum support through the Primary Curriculum Support Programme (PCSP) and School Development Planning Support (SDPS). Despite this, key problems within primary education still exist. The most evident is overcrowding.
For all the recent protests, it's worth repeating the fact that six years ago, a promise was made by Government to reduce class size to fewer than 20 per class for children of less than nine years of age.
Ireland's classes in primary school are currently among the most overcrowded in the OECD, with an average of 24 pupils, compared to an OECD average of fewer than 20. Recent figures show that almost 100,000 children in Ireland are in classes of 30 pupils or more.
Needless to say, in a primary curriculum that aspires to educate through hands-on, creative, active learning, large class sizes seriously weaken delivery. Not only is the full potential of the curriculum hampered, but the individual needs of children, particularly those with special needs and learning difficulties, are - and will increasingly be - negatively affected by overcrowded classrooms.
School accommodation is an another indictment of a passive governmental attitude. Many schools are still reliant on temporary accommodation. This "prefab phenomenon" exists at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education. Not only are such prefabs an inefficient use of funds, but they are often physically unsuitable for the task at hand.
The recent cancellation of the Summer Works Scheme, coupled with the failure to construct promised school buildings for this year, seriously threatens the veracity of ministerial statements on making school construction a priority.The benefits of early intervention in education have long been broadly accepted. Nobel laureate James Heckman found that early intervention programmes are far more cost-effective than late intervention. In addition, they play a key role in retaining pupil numbers, reducing criminal activity and tackling educational disadvantage.
These findings are not reflected in spending trends in Ireland, however, where for every €5 we spend on a primary school pupil, we spend €7 at second level and €10 at third level.
There are 471,519 students currently enrolled in first-level education. This form of education represents the most direct and accessible way to ensure equality of education and social inclusion.
There have been some positive approaches to tackling education disadvantage in recent years. Initiatives such as Breaking the Cycle, Giving Children an Even Break, the School Completion Programme and the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (Deis) programme have ensured a much-needed focus on educational disadvantage, as well as providing vital funding and resources to disadvantaged schools and pupils.
A Deis report in 2006 identified that 84 per cent of the total resources are provided in the form of teachers and home support liaison co-ordinators. The predominant use of the additional funds was to reduce class size.
The over-riding view among the schools surveyed was that smaller classes were an effective use of funds to counter disadvantage. One must wonder, then, what could be achieved if designated disadvantaged schools did not have to use vast amounts of their resources in efforts to reduce class size and instead could target the funding directly for pupils and pupil-centred initiatives?
With such an array of agencies, programmes and schemes addressing educational disadvantage, there is a danger of a lack of joined-up thinking. Relevant outside agencies such as the HSE and the National Educational Welfare Board are often disconnected from disadvantage initiatives and schools. An overall partnership approach needs to take place in order to ensure that resources are being used in the most effective manner.
Siobhan Masterson of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec) believes that information and computing technology (ICT) investment in education is "vital to Ireland's strategy to facilitate the development of knowledge-intensive sectors".
The Government claims to envisage a tech-savvy, highly skilled, knowledge-based workforce to drive our economy forward, yet investment in ICT in education is currently compromised.
The National Development Plan outlined €252 million to be spent on ICT in first- and second-level education. This commitment is now no longer secure. This failure to invest in ICT illustrates a complete lack of strategic focus on the Government's part.
This, along with increases in class sizes post-Budget, has worrying implications in a country that is already lagging behind in the integration of technology in teaching and learning. A National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) report revealed the average spend on ICT per student in Ireland was €40 per year, compared to €110 in Britain. The report also found that three out of 10 computers at primary level are more than six years old. Where does this leave Ireland's competitiveness?
One of the main strengths of the primary education system lies in the quality of its teachers. The CAO points for primary teaching remain high, which means that Irish primary teachers are drawn from the top quarter of school-leavers in the country. Prof John Coolahan of Maynooth asserts that "Ireland can be seen to have a highly educated, well-trained, committed and caring teaching force".
While investment in primary education is essential, Ireland must also examine the way we link primary and secondary education.
In Moving Up: The experiences of first-year students in post-primary education "the study showed that there can be a 'mismatch' between the primary and post-primary curriculums, and this mismatch can cause difficulties for students".
In addition to the apparent lack of dovetailing taking place between the primary and secondary curriculums, the report also states that the secondary system, even at the "shop floor" level, is deeply disconnected from the primary education system. It is clear that there is a need for a more integrated approach to primary and secondary education. The Irish education system, in curriculum, approach and design lacks integration at every level, beginning with primary level and continuing all the way to fourth level.
Primary education is the most important phase of education, with the essential elements of cognitive and non-cognitive ability being delivered at or before the age of 12. The work of teachers can only gloss over the basic strategic and institutional cracks for so long.
Failing to invest in the early stages of education is short-sighted. Primary education should always be viewed as a top priority in any society that wishes to remain competitive.
High-quality teachers - coupled with an inspiring curriculum, functional facilities and a comprehensive education strategy - are vital ingredients for a world-class first-level education system.
What Ireland needs now is the means and the political will to achieve this.
• The author is a member of the Faculty of Education at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick and the Swan Group
© 2008 The Irish Times
INTO Grants for Educational Research 2008/2009
- Published: 03 November 2008
Source : INTO
INTO Grants for Educational Research 2008/2009
The INTO Bursary Scheme for educational research will be continued in the forthcoming academic year, when a maximum of five bursaries of €1,500 will be awarded.
The closing date for receipt of completed applications is Wednesday, 10 December 2008.
Members who wish to apply for a bursary should make their applications before the closing date. Applications must be sent on the INTO Application Form, which is available from the Education Section, INTO Head Office, phone (01) 804 7774 and from the download below.
A full list of Terms and Conditions are available from Head Office and from the download link below. Any project which has been approved as a research endeavour by a recognised institute will be considered for grant purposes
