New Minister for Education & Science 7/5/08
Statement by John Carr, INTO General Secretary, on new Minister for Education and Science
7th May 2008The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation congratulates Batt O'Keeffe on his appointment as Minister for Education and Science.
John Carr, General Secretary of the INTO, last night congratulated Batt O'Keeffe TD on his appointment as Minister for Education and Science. He said the new Minister faced a daunting task to end the scandal of overcrowded classes and ensure that primary education was properly funded and resourced.
Securing a significant budget increase to implement the commitments in the Programme for Government must be the priority for the new Minister.
Mr Carr called on the new Minister to immediately increase the number of teachers in Colleges of Education to make sure that every child is taught by a fully qualified teacher. “It is essential that we train enough teachers to meet the growing primary school population,” said Carr.
“Already the system is creaking under recent modest increases in the school population. Many classes are being taught by persons with no teaching qualifications and rarely are teacher absences covered by a qualified teacher. Irish pupils are taught in the second most over-crowded classes in Europe and promises to reduce class sizes have been broken.”
Mr Carr said things would get a lot worse unless proper planning and increased resources become the order of the day.
He also said the new Minister would have to work to restore openness and transparency into the school building programme.
Mr Carr paid tribute to the work of out-going Minister Mary Hanafin TD for her work in special education. “Minister Hanafin made a significant contribution to increasing the resources available to children with special needs,” said Carr
ENDS.