Sir, - I read with interest, if a little wearily, the call by Richard Bruton of Fine Gael for more accountability in the Irish education system ("FG condemns absence of education accountability", The Irish Times, August 8th). Indeed, he is quoted as saying that "Ireland has no system of accountability whatsoever".
As a primary teacher, I am accountable to the board of management of the school in which I work, to the principal of the school, to the parents of the children in my care individually and as a group, to the parents with whom I work on the parent/teacher association - and, crucially, to the children I teach.
As anybody who spends five to six hours a day in the company of 30 11-year-olds will testify, this group will challenge, query, frustrate, stimulate, entertain and demand to be entertained for every minute.
Through the system of Tuaraisc∅ Scoile, my work is appraised regularly by a team of inspectors from the Department of Education and Science. The progress of the children is assessed in all areas of the curriculum, and school policy in every area - educational, administrative, health and safety, discipline - comes under scrutiny.
I do, however, think Richard Bruton has a point. There is a need for more accountability in Irish education.
Let's start with the people who decide educational policy, budgets and provision for all the children in our schools.
For decades, Irish schools have had the biggest class sizes in the developed world.
Even today, tens of thousands of children spend their days in substandard/inadequately heated /rat-infested/overcrowded accommodation.
For decades, children with special needs have been neglected due to the failure of successive governments to make adequate provision for them. Children with emotional, behavioural and/or learning difficulties suffer because of the lack of a proper psychological service.
There has been an acute shortage of qualified teachers for the past few years because it was government policy to reduce student intake to the colleges of education during the late 1980s and early 1990s, even though the teacher unions were predicting an increased demand for teachers.
Due to the scarcity of qualified teachers, thousands of children in Irish schools are cared for by people with no recognised teaching qualification, some on a long-term basis.
Due to the lack of career prospects and attractive salary scale, it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract a high calibre of student to the teaching profession.
For similar and other reasons, teaching is no longer seen as an attractive career option for young males; only 10 per cent of B.Ed. graduates are male.
Richard Bruton is right. We do need accountability.- Yours, etc.,
Joe Lyons, Barnakyle, Patrickswell, Co Limerick.