VEC turns to North as it can’t fill language teacher jobs
October 25, 2012
A SHORTAGE of language teachers has forced schools to advertise for staff in Northern Ireland.
Although thousands of teachers are struggling for work, Co Louth Vocational Education Committee (VEC), which runs five schools, has advertised vacancies in the ‘Belfast Telegraph’ newspaper.
The ad, placed last Monday, is seeking German and Spanish teachers as well as those who can teach a range of subjects through the medium of Irish, starting next September. Co Louth VEC chief executive officer Padraig Kirk said their schools were experiencing “significant difficulties” in recruiting qualified teachers.
Border
The VEC, which has also had problems recruiting teachers of French and Russian, looked over the Border after two ads placed in the Republic failed to fill the vacancies.
The problem is not unique to Co Louth and Ferdia Kelly of the Joint Managerial Body, representing secondary school management, said shortages had been noted in recent years.
Meanwhile, Dublin schools could find it difficult to get Irish teachers, Clive Byrne of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals said. New regulations ensuring schools recruit only qualified and registered teachers may be contributing to the difficulties. Previously, a school may have fallen back on a teacher who was proficient in a subject but not properly qualified.
www.independent.ie
Tús le Teanga is Cultúr 1+2
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Féile na Samhna ag Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin
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Cuireadh chuig seoladh Bhreacadh ag Oireachtas 2012
October 24, 2012
Comórtas BEO!
October 24, 2012
Patronage reform process begins
October 24, 2012
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has launched the first step towards the divesting of primary schools from the Catholic Church in 44 communities as a result of a huge demand among parents for a change of patronage.
To ensure the demands of the public are met, a survey is being distributed among parents in 5 areas where schools, currently under the Catholic Church, are to reform their patronage: Arklow, Castlebar, Whitehall, Trim and Tramore.
Surveys will be distributed in the 39 other areas next month with the hope of reforming patronage in primary school by September 2012 if parents comply with survey deadlines.
The five patrons which will compete in these five areas are An Foras Pátrúnachta; Educate Together; VECs; the National Learning Network; and the Redeemed Christian Church of God and strict handling guidelines have been put into place to ensure that information will be disputed fairly among parents.
In the survey, which is being distributed mainly online, parents will be asked to state whether they feel a wider range of patrons are needed and to vote their preference of the patrons which have expressed interest in their area. Parents will also be asked whether they prefer same-sex or co-education and English speaking schools or Gaelscoileanna.
An Foras Pátrúnachta is the first choice for parents who wish to promote all Irish speaking education in their area. 61 primary schools and 3 secondary school are currently under their patronage and students in those schools are immersed in the Irish language from their first day onwards.
“We are the only patron who can offer parents a choice of spiritual ethos which include Multi-denominational, Interdenominational and Catholic.” said Caoimhín Ó hEaghra, Ard-Rúnaí, An Foras Pátrúnachta.
Minister Quinn is asking parents to complete the survey before 9 November 2012. All information on the process is available on www.foras.ie and surveys can be found on www.education.ie.
GAELPORT.COM
Schools under new patrons ‘by September’
October 23, 2012
Patrons to change if survey shows demand, says Quinn
PRIMARY SCHOOLS could be under new patronage by next September if sufficient numbers of parents decide they want it, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has said.
Parents in five areas where there are a considerable number of primary schools will be given that choice through an online survey.
The parents of both preschool and primary-school children in Arklow, Castlebar, Tramore, Trim and Whitehall are being asked to identify their preferred school patron. They will be asked to complete surveys stating their preferences for the type of local school they would like their children to attend. The results will be presented to the Catholic Church, which has said that if enough parents in certain areas decide they want a different patron for a school, they will hand over that patronage.
The move is the first step in a process i n which schools in 44 areas could be divested of the control of the Catholic Church. The areas in question are those where there is a stable population and a clear demand for a greater diversity of school types. The other 39 areas will be surveyed from next month.
Mr Quinn said the purpose of the survey of the five areas was to ensure the online process was carried out properly before it was extended to other areas. He expects the results will be available by the end of the year and the first change of patronage will happen “next September or the following September” if everything goes according to agreed procedures.
Fr Michael Drumm, chairman of the Catholic Schools Partnership, said they would abide by the survey results, even though they would have preferred a paper rather than an online survey because many parents do not have access to the internet.
“We would of course facilitate change where there is real demand for it,” he told RTÉ Radio’s News at One programme.
He said that if only a small number of parents respond to the survey, the partnership would take that as a signal that the rest were happy with the status quo. He also stressed the survey could not be regarded as a plebi-scite or a vote on future patronage.
The National Parents Council urged parents to participate in the survey so the results could truly reflect the wishes of the local communities. Educate Together chief executive Paul Rowe described the survey as “a milestone in providing for diversity in Irish education”.
He predicted that it would lead to the transfer of patronage of a small number of Catholic schools to Educate Together where there is parental demand to do so. He said parents in the five areas questioned would be “greatly encouraged” their preferred school type may not be far away with the Minister’s announcement. The bodies which have expressed interest in becoming patrons of divested schools in the five areas are An Foras Pátrúnachta, the patron body for Gaelscoileanna in Ireland; Educate Together; VECs; the National Learning Network; and the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
The survey process will be overseen by the independent New Schools Establishment Group. The Department of Education will publish detailed reports on the survey outcomes. If the surveys identify demand for alternative patronage in these areas, the department will explore with the existing patrons the transfer of patronage of schools.
The survey is available at www.education.ie.
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‘To see real educational apartheid, look no farther than your local Gaelscoil’
October 23, 2012
A PARENT WRITES: It’s far from certain whether any move to withdraw State funding from private schools will address the problem of educational inequality, but it seems there is now the political appetite to rattle a system that has enjoyed the best of both worlds for too long.
I suspect the move, if it happens, will be a financial manoeuvre rather than an attempt to redistribute privilege in Irish society. If policymakers were genuinely interested in democratising State-funded education they would do well to take a cool look at the Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcoláistí. Irish language schools are getting away with worse levels of educational apartheid than any private schools. These schools may purport to welcome children of all nationalities, classes and intellectual abilities but the language throws up a natural forcefield that deflects students from various constituencies.
Living as I do in a middle-class area of south Dublin, I know many parents who have opted to send their children to Gaelscoileanna. Not one of these parents is a Gaelgóir – all complain that they are not equipped to help their children with homework or even to engage in the mildest level of Irish conversation at home. There is no grá for the language here – these parents are choosing these schools because their children will be educated among Irish citizens from well-to-do backgrounds.
These are well-informed people with the cop-on to get their child’s name on a list at birth. They have the comfort of knowing that their child will not have to muck in with students whose second language is English, with Travellers or with others who would simply never consider a Gaelscoil for a slew of socioeconomic reasons. This exclusivity is naturally reproduced into second-level Gaelcoláistí, which tend to give first preference to children from the Gaelscoil sector.
As for special education, I’m willing to bet that, if anyone cared to review the situation, there are fewer children with special needs in Irish-language schools than in others. Socioeconomic profiling would account for this in the large part, but there’s more to it. Why are children with learning disabilities in English language schools entitled to apply for an exemption from Irish? Because it’s very hard to learn if you have dyslexia or other learning disabilities. Another natural barrier at the gate of the Gaelscoil.
It is the right of every citizen to choose the type of education they want for their child. If a parent wants an exclusively Irish education for their child then they should have to pay for it. Like the private schools, I don’t believe the Irish taxpayer should be forced to stump up for schools that can only ever accommodate a very narrow layer of Irish society.
This column is designed to give a voice to those within the education system who wish to speak out anonymously. Contributions are welcome; email sflynn@irishtimes.com
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Feighlí Páistí
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Cúntóir Ranga
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