26th January 2011 - Education Cutbacks to Hit The Most Vulnerable
Recent education cutbacks are targeting the disadvantaged in our society most. Teachers working with Traveller children, co-ordinators for disadvantaged schools in rural areas and many of the teachers who taught English to the immigrant population are being withdrawn by the Department of Education and Skills in a cost-cutting exercise that will save nothing in the long-term.
25th January 2011 - Literacy and Numeracy - Average is Simply not Good Enough
Three out of four primary school Principals would like to see a re-structuring of the primary school curriculum to further support literacy and numeracy in the classroom. This is according to an Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) survey of over 800 Principals.
IPPN President, Pat Goff said ‘A national strategy for literacy and numeracy in Irish schools must become a top priority for the incoming government. Recent PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) findings show that Ireland has slipped from near the top of the rankings to less than average. Average is simply not good enough. A strategy, beginning with teacher training, and continuing right through teacher probation up to actual service in the classroom is a must, if Ireland is to regain lost ground’.
24th November 2010 - Statement Re Government Four Year Plan from the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN)
Primary Principals are bitterly disappointed with the 5% cut in school funding. However, the most disturbing cuts are within the range of specialist teachers (English as a second language, resource teachers for travelers, visiting teachers for children with specific disabilities and other co-ordination posts). Overall this plan will have a serious impact on the quality of children's learning, but especially on those from disadvantaged backgrounds or on children with special needs. It will be impossible to deliver the current standard of education provision with the scale of these cut-backs.
ENDS
15th November 2010 - Any Cuts To Primary School Funding Would
‘Irish Primary Schools will run out of money mid-year if there is any reduction in government funding for the running costs of schools. Parents who have suffered pay cuts or lost their jobs will no longer be able to keep schools afloat’ said Gerry Murphy, Deputy President, Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN). ‘The State has for many years left it up to parents to subsidise supposedly free education on income from which they have already paid tax. It is beyond belief that the government is now actively considering a reduction in the basic funding of schools’ continued Mr Murphy, whose organisation will submit a Pre-Budget Submission on Wednesday 17th November.
