ASTI:The publication of school inspection and evaluation reports on the internet has made teaching the most accountable profession across the public and private sectors, ASTI general secretary John White told delegates yesterday.
In a robust defence of teachers' participation in modernisation in schools, he said that he wanted a "loud and clear" message to go out from the conference to "those politicians and their right-wing followers who assert as fact that no modernisation was given in the last modest benchmarking awards to teachers".
"If their only point of reference is the grind school, they might be right, but Irish teachers have transformed the education system over the past 10 years . . . We have the evidence to prove it. We have delivered," he said.
This transformation included the mainstreaming of special needs pupils, the integration of newcomer children, the modernising of syllabuses in all subjects, and the "plethora" of education legislation across a range of areas from school attendance to special education needs, he said.
In a wide-ranging speech, Mr White also cited the "pernicious" growth of school league tables and the commercial influence of "grind schools" in the media as evidence of a "zeitgeist" that dictated that the operation of the market should prevail.
But it was the role of the Irish trade unions in a democracy to influence the Government to intervene in the operation of this "raw, unfettered market" "so as to create a society of civic responsibility".
This required that the teachers' unions work together, he said. He called for the retention of the "excellent" early retirement scheme for teachers, due for review in the autumn. He claimed this would represent a "win-win" for unions, management and the department.
"Surely, the Government must see that a system which forces teachers, exhausted by the vicissitudes of the modern classroom to remain in that same classroom against their will is absurdly counterproductive," he said.
"The preservation of these schemes is a policy goal around which the three teacher unions can work together."
The staffing quota issue would be solved "at the stroke of a pen" if the appointment ratio of teachers was improved, Mr White continued.
"Over the period of the run-up to the election, we must all undertake to ensure that every candidate is made aware by our 17,000 members that we have 25,000 young vibrant adolescents in class sizes of 30 and over, 100,000 pupils in classes over 25," he said.
Mr White also sought to reassure the union's members in the community and comprehensive sectors that the ASTI would be ensuring that they had continuity of employment where their schools were closing.
Earlier, Northern Ireland education minister-designate Caitríona Ruane spoke of the feeling of "hope" which recent developments in the North had brought on both sides of the Border. While many challenges lay ahead, she said she wished to understand what the key issues were across the island.
She added that she looked forward to working with teachers on both sides of the Border, as well as with the Minister for Education Mary Hanafin, in this regard.