'No cuts' to special needs teaching [Independent.ie]
- Published: 03 June 2011
EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn has insisted that there is no cut to the provision of teaching resources for children with special needs.
Mr Quinn said the Government was holding back a balance of 10pc of next year's allocation of special needs teaching hours, and said it was a sensible provision based on unexpected demand for the service.
"We are keeping in reserve 10pc to be allocated in full by September of this year," Mr Quinn said yesterday.
He insisted 10pc was being held back to cover any late applications for special needs resources for those who missed the deadline for application to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Special needs support faces cuts [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 02 June 2011
The amount of support schools able to offer to special needs students may be reduced from September as the government has announced a cut in the number of teaching hours available.
From the start of the next school year, educational facilities will only get 90 per cent of the resource teaching hours they received in the 2010-11 period.
The decision was criticised by the Irish National Teachers Association, which described it as another cutback that would harm the most vulnerable members of society.
General secretary of the union Sheila Nunan stated Irish primary school classes are already among the most overcrowded in Europe and the reductions will only make matters worse.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
DES Circular 0037/2011 [education.ie]
- Published: 02 June 2011
Should kids be allowed to use Facebook? [Independent.ie]
- Published: 02 June 2011
Children younger than 13 should be allowed to use Facebook, the social network’s founder Mark Zuckerberg has said. At present, Irish children are technically barred from using the site under the site’s own rules. Facebook’s 13-and-over age limit was set to comply with American privacy laws.
Kim Bielenberg: Yes
The first reason for allowing 11 and 12-year-olds into the world of social networking is that there is a good chance that they are already there. According to recent estimates in the United States, up to 7.5 million Facebook users at present are under the age of 13.
Parents may ban their children from going on to the site, but unless they are standing over them for every online minute they can easily log on to it by entering a false age. If they do not manage to do it at home they can do it when they are visiting friends.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Special-needs teaching cuts under fire [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 02 June 2011
It emerged yesterday that the Department of Education is allocating only 90% of the resources that primary schools say they need.
The INTO has condemned the move, saying it puts schools in the position of having to explain to parents why they cannot provide the level of support recommended for their children.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
