THE LEADER of one of the main teachers’ unions has called for a change in the direction of Government, advocating a left-wing administration where “fly-by-night property tycoons” and big business would no longer be allowed to set the agenda.
In an unusually political speech, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation president Declan Kelleher told 900 delegates to his union’s annual conference it was time “we actively sought to bring about a government in this country that is led by the left”.
This new government would not be “overly influenced by fly-by-night property tycoons, speculators, big builders and the interests of big business and tax exiles. They have had an open door with government for far too long”, he said.
He also predicted the current Government would reap the reward for targeting teachers and the public service in the next general election which he said would come sooner rather than later.
Mr Kelleher is not a member of any political party.
Mr Kelleher said primary teachers were paying between 10 and 14 per cent of salary towards economic recovery because of the public service pension levy and the various income levies.
“In the meantime tax exiles, tax shelterers, property tycoons and the wealthy are walking off scot-free from their obligations because they are the friends of this Government that simply doesn’t have the courage to take them on,” he said. The INTO president said PAYE workers had always been the soft option for revenue collection. “Of course taxes had to be raised,” he said. “Nobody disputes that.”
“Teachers are more than prepared to pay their fair share towards economic recovery but we must see equity and fairness applied from the top down.
“That has not happened and Government will reap the reward for this on June 6th next” when the local and European elections take place.
He also strongly criticised what he called “wave after wave of attacks” on public servants. He said a campaign had been orchestrated by the employers’ body Ibec to make teachers and other public servants feel they were the cause of the economic downturn.
He said schools had modernised to accommodate special needs pupils and embraced the technological revolution with scarce resources and little State investment. He also pointed to a totally changed primary school curriculum which teachers were attempting to teach without adequate resources. Mr Kelleher said there were changed arrangements for parent-teacher meetings, pupil assessment, staff meetings and reporting to parents.
He said people should try to shadow a primary teaching principal for a day. “If they did they would find out a little about one of the busiest and most demanding jobs in the entire public and private sectors,” said Mr Kelleher.
Mr Kelleher told the INTO conference that “the principal in reality works in both the private and the public sector”.
“Teaching principals must be private sector entrepreneurs raising funds to keep the school afloat. At the same time they must be public servants, running schools and teaching classes at the same time.”
He said that in the North teaching principals have two days per week substitute cover so they can do essential administration duties. “The equivalent in the Republic is three hours per week,” he said. He described the proposal in last week’s Budget to establish a free preschool year for all three and four-year-old children from next January as a pretence. “The infrastructure is not there,” he said. “Most parents will find they will be unable to access early childhood education for their children.”
