Ombudsman criticises jail comments [IrishTimes]
- Published: 01 June 2011
One of the country’s most senior civil servants has been criticised by the Ombudsman for Children over "inappropriate" comments about children in St Patrick's Institution.
Emily Logan claims the secretary general of the Department of Justice misrepresented a scathing report she carried out on 16- and 17-year-old inmates in the jail.
Ms Logan said she was dismayed Seán Aylward told a United Nations committee on torture that her report highlighted the “number of discrepancies between the young people’s perception and the actual reality”.
She described her own visits to St Patrick’s as a chilling experience. “I was concerned that the most senior civil service who oversees that service would say there was a discrepancy between young people’s perception and the reality,” she said.
The Ombudsman said officials should sit up and listen when children talked about being frightened and locked in a protective cell, called a pad, in their underwear for prolonged periods of time.
“I just want to make sure there isn’t a culture where children will express their views and that those views will be dismissed,” said Ms Logan. “I wouldn’t find that acceptable.”
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Desperate donkey, placid pooch and a bird-napped budgie [Independent.ie]
- Published: 01 June 2011
When I was a schoolboy, animals played a vital and unique role in the entertainment of my alma mater. Where I work, this year the closest to an animal we got to see roaming the classrooms was a bluebottle.
I counted 21 dead ones on the window sill in a corridor, with just one live one hopping around the corpses, presumably in a state of dismay.
Last week my third years told me that they have to go all the way back to first class when someone brought in a lamb in a cage for all the kids to pet. Then today I'm delighted when the sixth years release a donkey into the PE hall as part of their hilarious valedictory prank. Cue amused teachers and sniggering pupils as the lone caretaker struggles to shift the beast.
The show only becomes more hilarious as the PE teacher arrives, looking for his first year group, and proceeds to awkwardly tug at the poor old donkey's head.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
Cutbacks forcing special needs children out of school system [Independent.ie]
- Published: 01 June 2011
KILSARAN NS pupil, Jamie Monaghan is only 12 but he probably has less than a year of formal education left because he is autistic.
His dad, Phil, says he is 'caught between a rock and hard place' because Jamie will have to leave the purposebuilt special classrooms in the mainstream Kilsaran school.
'The best I can hope for is that he will be allowed to stay until he is 14. After that, he will go to Drumcar, which does brilliant work. But Jamie will move from a mainstream environment into one which is for adults with disabilities,' Phil said.
Today the mid-Louth rural school has 180 mainstream and 23 special needs children with four special needs classrooms – for severe and profound disabilities, non-verbal autism, verbal autism, and early intervention class for children starting school.
Jamie's condition – Mosaic Trisomy 9 – means he is in a wheelchair and depends on people to look after him.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
St Vincent de Paul petition to cut wasteful changing of schoolbooks [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 31 May 2011
The Society of St Vincent de Paul has is seeking public support for its campaign to reduce the publication of unnecessary new schoolbook editions.
It is asking parents to sign a petition calling on the Minister for Education and Skills to set up an effective national book rental scheme.
The petition is available at www.svp.ie/books
“The constant flow of unnecessary new editions means that families are forced to keep forking out for new texts, while tonnes of books end up dumped. It's crazy - and unnecessary.” said SVP National President Mairead Bushnell.
“Education is a right, and it's supposed to be free. But Ireland is one of only a few European countries to make even the poorest pay for books. It's a shocking burden on hard-pressed families. By the time they leave school, a family with four children could have spent as much as €3,200 on secondary school books alone, that most of the time, can’t even be reused.” she said
In most European countries schools run school book rental schemes, where schools buy the books and rent or loan them out to students in return for a small fee or deposit. This means that teachers can set a book and be sure that there are enough copies for all their students.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
