July 2010

INTO in the News

State picks 40 regions for handover of Church schools - Irish Independent
29th July 2010
The Department of Education has pinpointed more than 40 areas around the country where it believes a number of Catholic Churchrun primary schools could be handed over to be run by another patron……A spokesperson for the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation said there was a need for increased diversity but criticised the department’s “lack of consultation with parents, teachers and management bodies”.

Education spend full of old promises, says teachers’ union
Irish Examiner
27th July 2010
The Government’s infrastructural investment in education comprises old promises on school places with insufficient spending on information technology, it has been claimed…

Teachers in bid to ‘soften’ reforms- Irish Independent
24th July 2010
Divided teacher unions are back in separate talks with the Department of Education over the controversial Croke Park pay and reform package.Although the deal was accepted by an overall majority of public sector unions, second-level teachers, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) rejected it.  However, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) – which endorsed the package – has lifted its bans and is committed to implementing the terms of the Croke Park Deal.

Union leaders claim programme for new teachers waters down existing help
Irish Examiner
23rd July 2010
Revised supports for new teachers have been described by a union leader as watering down existing help to save Government funding…

The Tommy Marren Show - Midwest Radio
23rd July 2010
Tanaiste Mary Coughlan announced yesterday that newly qualified teachers are going to be provided with a special support network in an effort to boost teacher quality. President of the INTO Jim Higgins reacts to this announcement.

Induction courses planned for new teachers - Irish Times
22nd July 2010
Newly QUalified teachers will be offered an opportunity to complete a detailed induction programme under plans set to be unveiled by Minister for Education Mary Coughlan today.
The Minister says the new procedures will boost teacher quality and assist newly qualified teachers. An induction support programme is to be made available to all primary teachers qualifying from this year and to all new post-primary teachers from next year...
Last night an INTO spokesman said an induction course for all teachers had been a long-standing demand of the union. The union would reserve any further comment until full details of the scheme become known.

'When you have two pupils with special needs, without supports, it affects the whole class'- Irish Examiner
20th July 2010 
Sacred Heart Senior National School in Killinarden, Tallaght, is rated as one of the country's most disadvantaged schools. When it reopens in September, it will have almost 300 pupils — up from 280 over the school year that ended last month and from 240 children when the general allocation model (GAM) of special educational needs (SEN) staffing was brought in five years ago.
Because of its disadvantaged status, the school was entitled to one SEN teacher for every 80 pupils, giving it an allocation of three people working on learning support and resource teaching for reading and maths. But although the August 2005 Department of Education rules governing the system state clearly that schools are entitled to pro-rata increases in SEN staff based on rises in pupil numbers, no such increases have been given...
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) said the major fault of the GAM is that it is based on school enrolments in 2003 but there has been a 14% increase in the primary pupil population since then. "During that time the general allocation of teachers to schools has not been reviewed and increased. There is a strong case for an increase in provision under the GAM for the most acutely disadvantaged schools," said INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan.

High number of unqualified primary school teachers halved - Irish Independent
19th July 2010
The number of unqualified teachers in primary schools has halved in two years in the drive to regulate standards in the classroom. The Department of Education has been enforcing a harder line to ensure that all pupils are taught by a properly qualified person. Parents' and teachers' union leaders pressed for an end to a practice of using unqualified personnel that had become embedded in the system. Sheila Nunan, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, said: "People without qualifications are not teachers and can only provide supervision for children. Every child as a right to by taught by a properly qualified teacher."

Schools fall through internet - Irish Sunday Mirror
18th July 2010
Just 2 per cent of schools have high speed broadband internet access, new figures have revealed. Fergus O'Dowd, Fine Gael Education Spokesman, said only 78 schools have high speed broadband, while more than 4,000 have not. He said the lack if internet puts our pupils at a competitive disadvantage compared with European rivals and makes a joke of Ireland's claims to be at the forefront of the knowledge economy. He added; "Our students need to be provided with the best in ICT technology as well as the best access to the internet. “However, as this information shows, the Government continues to let them down." The Irish National Teachers' Organisation agreed and described the lack of broadband as a major barrier.

High-speed broadband in just 2% of schools - Irish Times
17th July 2010
Only 2 per cent of schools in Ireland have high-speed broadband, according to information released to Fine Gael education spokesman Fergus O’Dowd. Responding to the disclosure, the INTO said the lack of broadband was now a major barrier to teachers and pupils using digital technologies.

Broadband in schools fails our students, teachers claim - Irish Independent
17th July 2010
The broadband service being offered to Irish schools by the Department of Education is so bad that some have refused it and paid for their own. Many homes have better connectivity to the internet than the primary and post-primary schools educating 800,000 children every day. In a week when Taoiseach Brian Cowen is promoting Ireland as an innovation hub, it emerged that only 78 of 4,000 schools -- 2pc -- have high-speed broadband. The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said broadband in Irish schools was "not fit for purpose" and was a major barrier to teachers and pupils using new technologies.

Primary teachers in Ireland among world's best paid - Irish Times
14th July 2010
Primary teachers in Ireland are among the best paid in the world, according to a draft report considered by the Cabinet yesterday. The Forfás 2010 report on the cost of doing business in Ireland says the starting salary for the Republic’s 25,000 primary teachers is 15 per cent above the OECD average, while their top salary scale is 33 per cent above the OECD average. The report says pay for primary teachers with 15 years experience is the highest of any OECD country, aside from Luxembourg. Last night, the INTO said Irish salary scales had to be seen “in the context of food and drink being 29 per cent more than in other EU countries, bread and cereal which is 32 per cent higher and meat, which is 21 per cent higher”. A spokesman for the union said Irish primary teachers, on average, taught 200 hours more than the OECD yearly average – and taught in the second-largest classes in the EU. The spokesman said Irish primary teachers were very productive turning below-average government investment into top-class educational outcomes for children. Irish literacy rates for this generation of students were among the highest in the world, he said.

School's out as teachers head for the door - Connacht Tribune
9th July 2010
The exodus of primary teachers in County Galway has reached such a crisis point that schools are finding it difficult to appoint replacements. It has been revealed by the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) that schools in County Galway had to advertise on several occasions for principals because they couldn't find suitable candidates. And they also say that many teachers do not want to take on the responsibilities that are attached to being a principal of a school for what they consider to be relatively little difference in wages. The INTO says that a lack of autonomy, the dual role of teacher and manager, volume of legislation and a huge increase in workload are making this once sought-after position of principal highly unattractive.

Coughlan eases promotions embargo but union warns of school chaos in September - Irish Times
6th July 2010
Minister for Education Mary Coughlan has announced a partial easing of the promotions embargo in schools but a teaching union has warned schools still face “chaos situation in September”. The Minister also announced a limited derogation so that larger primary schools with assistant principal vacancies will be able to apply to the department for approval to make appointments.
Sheila Nunan, general secretary of the INTO, which backed the Croke Park deal, said the move lacked certainty and clarity but any alleviation was welcome.

Education and language support - Irish Times (Comment - Opinion and Analysis)
5th July 2010
Concerns about both the thrust of policy and the effects of cutbacks in the State’s provision of English language support for immigrant children have been raised in recent days both by national school teachers through the INTO and at last week’s Trinity Immigration Initiative “New Migrations, New Challenges” conference...

Ex-courts service chief to monitor public service deal - Irish Examiner
3rd July 2010
THE former chief executive of the Irish Courts Service PJ Fitzpatrick is to chair the implementation body which will oversee the Croke Park deal on public service pay and reform.
The body is being established to make sure the terms of the deal are implemented and to assess the value of the savings generated in each sector of the public service...

Teacher unions open to reform talks -  Irish Examiner
2nd July 2010
All four teacher unions are now open to discussing possible work reforms, despite three of them rejecting the Croke Park public service pay deal in recent ballots.
The leaders of two unions yesterday reaffirmed their opposition to the agreement, but indicated they would seek greater detail on the proposed reforms from Department of Education officials so they can consult their members on the issue...