28th January 2010 Education Cuts are an attack on Children’s Rights
29th January 2010 DES Strategy on ICT is an embarrassing shambles
Children are losing out on learning opportunities because there is no coherent national strategy for technology in primary schools. This was the message from IPPN Director, Sean Cottrell in his address to over 1,100 Principals and invited guests at Irish Primary Principals' Network's (IPPN) annual conference in Citywest Hotel, Dublin. Mr Cottrell was 'scathing' of the Government's disjointed and under-funded National Strategy for ICT in Education and called for an e-learning infrastructure that would enable children to use technology to access the curriculum.
29th January 2010 Leaders at national level have let us down
Would you send your child to a school with Bertie Ahern as Principal, Seánie Fitzpatrick as the Treasurer of the Board of Management, Roddy Molloy as Chairperson and Desmond Connell as Patron of the school? This is the scenario that the Director of the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN), Mr Seán Cottrell, presents to 1,100 Principals and invited guests as IPPN's annual conference in Citywest today, Friday 29th January. Thankfully this leadership vacuum is not replicated in the 3,500 plus schools throughout the country where the polar opposite exists.The IPPN Director states 'If it were Principals leading our banks, churches and state agencies, we would not be in this mess' and goes on to assert that Principals are caught between the long-standing cartel of church, state and trade unions who collaborate to protect their vested interests. However, all are happy to devolve responsibility back to schools when problems arise.
28th January 2010 - Principals are forced to neglect priority work
'The 2-in-1 role of Teacher and School Leader has become a health and safety hazard and there is ample evidence to show that the sense of guilt, anxiety and stress is damaging to the physical and mental health of the Principal'. This is the alarming message conveyed by the National Director of the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN), Mr Seán Cottrell, to almost 1,000 Primary Principals at the IPPN annual conference in Citywest Convention Centre today, Friday January 29th.
