An insider’s guide to education
The broad outlineof the education cutbacks expected in the Budget is clear after those weekend leaks. College fees of up to €3,000, increases in class size and cuts to the capitation grant for schools are all on the agenda.
At this stage, Mary Coughlan, Minister for Education, appears to favour these broadly-based cuts which target very large groups. Two years ago, the Department adopted a very different scattergun approach. Over two dozen separate cuts were imposed on students with special needs, Travellers and the disadvantaged. The result? A storm of protest.
This time, the Department appears more confident that it can face down opposition from the INTO over class size and from the USI over student fees. As Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan is also anxious to demonstrate she is ready to take some pain along with other ministerial colleagues.
But these are early days. Gary Redmond and his USI team will draw plenty of support from the parents of Middle Ireland, who face a new €3,000 bill in September. And only a foolish minister would underestimate the huge power of Sheila Nunan (above) and her colleagues in the INTO.
Curiously, a key battle could be the area of special needs, which drew little comment over the weekend. The Government can muster a reasonable defence in terms of fees and class size but savage cuts in special needs will cast them as as insensitive, cruel and uncaring. So will Mary Coughlan back off that plan to cut the number of special needs assistants in the next few weeks?
When is theIrish education system going to acknowledge the realities of life for working parents? During the mid-term break last week, many schools closed for a half-day on the day the holiday began. And astonishingly, some even closed at noon yesterday as schools reopened. No doubt there will be another half-day when schools return in January and still more of those training and in-service days scattered throughout 2011.
As Ferdinand von Prondzynski noted last week, “sending students home during the working week because of staff meetings should now be totally unacceptable. The summer holidays are far too long. The system needs to recognise that most households no longer have a parent staying at home.”
Would the Croke Park deal, designed to make public services more user-friendly, please put a stop to this nonsense?
It's celebration timeat Hibernia College, the online teacher training college which celebrates its tenth year of operation this week.
The college – run by Seán Rowland – had plenty of detractors when it was launched in 2000. But it is now regarded as a shining light of the sector.
And – whisper it – some primary school principals actively seek out Hibernia graduates over those from the traditional teacher training colleges.
Got any education gossip?
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