FF welcomes publication on Literacy and Numeracy Strategy – Smith [fiannafail.ie]
- Published: 08 July 2011
Fianna Fáil Education spokesperson Brendan Smith has welcomed the publication of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2011 – 2020, which is the result of a process started by the previous Government.
Deputy Smith said: “The strategy announced by the Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn today is the result of extensive work carried out by the previous Government last year to set the course for radical improvements in literacy and numeracy standards in this country.
“Since Ruairí Quinn was appointed Education Minister, Fianna Fáil has consistently called on him to publish the strategy. I very much welcome that he has done so today. In particular, we support the value of taking a wider community approach to improving our children’s literacy and numeracy skills. Parents can play a hugely positive role in enhancing their children’s interest and aptitude towards reading and maths. The strategy also commits to improving public attitudes towards these subjects, which will also make a real difference in the longer-term.
Full Story: www.fiannafail.ie
Literacy and Numeracy Plan [into.ie]
- Published: 08 July 2011
Press Statement Sheila Nunan General Secretary, INTO, on Literacy and Numeracy Plan
Success or failure of literacy and numeracy plan will depend on school resources.
The INTO responded to the literacy and numeracy plan published by the Department of Education and Skills saying laying out a plan at a time when thousands of teaching jobs are being cut from schools showed the lack of official backing for the plan.
The General Secretary of the INTO Sheila Nunan said: “You cannot on the one hand demand higher standards and then cut teacher numbers, reduce funding, decrease supports for special needs and disadvantaged children and increase class size.” She said these cutbacks would compromise the ability of schools to deliver on the plan.
“The government’s commitment to literacy and numeracy will be seen in the next budget. If teacher numbers are cut then this plan is not worth the paper it is written on,” said Ms Nunan. “The challenge for the Minister is to ring fence front line staffing and find the resources to support a rise in standards. If he doesn’t do this then this plan will be a pointless exercise.”
Full Story: www.into.ie
PRINCIPAL WARNS OF ROAD FATALITY IF NEW BUS RULES COME IN [donegaldaily.com]
- Published: 08 July 2011
A school principal has warned that one of his pupils will be killed if the new school transport system is introduced.
Principal of Glenswilly National School in Co Donegal, Liam McGowan, has already told parents to ignore any invoices they get from bus companies for the new school term.
Under new guidelines children living less than two miles from the school will now have to pay €200 to get a bus compared to the current fee of €50.
Parents who cannot afford the extra payment will now be forced to drive their children to school each morning or make them walk.
Mr McGowan said there will now be a huge volume of cars pulling up outside the school and a fatal accident is inevitable.
Full Story: www.donegaldaily.com
Religious orders willing to meet Quinn on redress costs [IrishTimes]
- Published: 07 July 2011
A NUMBER of religious congregations have signalled their willingness to meet Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn to discuss redress costs for victims of clerical sexual abuse.
However, the Dominican Order said yesterday it believed it had already made an “appropriate contribution” towards compensation costs. Earlier this week Mr Quinn said the Government intends to ask religious orders to transfer ownership of schools to the State to make up a shortfall in its contribution to the €1.36 billion compensation bill for abuse victims.
Representatives from the Brothers of Charity, the Presentation Brothers and the Christian Brothers all said yesterday they were looking forward to meeting the Minister to discuss their contributions to the redress scheme.
To date the congregations have collectively offered €348.5 million towards the cost of the redress bill. This is just over half the €680 million fee recommended in the Ryan report and equivalent to a quarter of the total cost of the compensation scheme.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Independent TDs oppose cuts in SNAs [IrishTimes]
- Published: 07 July 2011
Reductions in the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) are to be the subject of a private members’ motion from the technical group of TDs in the Dáil next week.
A protest on the issue is also timed to take place outside Leinster House on Wednesday afternoon.
At a news conference in Dublin today, Socialist Party TD Clare Daly accused Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn of failing to notify schools until the last week of term to “cut across opposition” to the cutbacks in special needs.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
