Athruithe go leor ar na bacáin
Deireadh Fómhair 31, 2012
Tá athruithe móra ar na bacáin sa chóras oideachais ó d’fhógair an Roinn Oideachais go bhfuil tús curtha le próiseas ina bheidh pátrúnacht bunscoileanna ag aistriú ón Eaglais Chaitliceach go patrúin eile.
Cuireadh tús leis an bpróiseas le suirbhéanna a scaipeadh ar thuismitheoirí i gceantair áirithe an mhí seo agus táthar ag súil go mbeidh pátrúin úra curtha i ngníomh faoi mhí Mheán Fómhair na bliana seo chugainn má chuireann an líon ceart tuismitheoirí a dtuairimí in iúl.
Féile filíochta ar an mBuailtín
Fíorchaoin fáilte a bheidh á chur roimh fhilí agus thurasóirí a thabharfaidh aghaidh ar an mBuailtín i gContae Chiarraí don fhéile bheag filíochta ón 8-12 Samhain.
Is í an séú bliain don fhéile agus beidh reacaireacht agus ceardlanna ag filí aitheanta, ina measc Paddy Bushe agus Nuala Ní Dhómhnaill.
Tuilleadh eolais www.feilebheagfiliochta.com
www.independent.ie
VEC turns to North as it can’t fill language teacher jobs
Deireadh Fómhair 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
Parents to begin voting on who runs their local primary schools
Deireadh Fómhair 22, 2012
PARENTS are to start voting on who they want to run their local school, in a historic step for Irish education.
The move is aimed at reducing the dominance of the Catholic Church in primary education and handing over some of the 92pc of schools it currently controls to other patron bodies. The church agrees that greater choice is required to reflect recent cultural and ethnic changes and will divest schools to other patrons in line with parental demand.
From today, surveys are being carried out in five of 44 initial areas where the Department of Education has identified a potential demand for greater diversity because of limited choice and no plans to open a new school. The five areas are: Arklow, Co Wicklow; Castlebar, Co Mayo; Tramore, Co Waterford; Trim, Co Meath and Whitehall, Dublin, while the remaining 39 will vote in November.
Parents and guardians of preschool and primary schoolchildren in each area will be surveyed and they will have to supply the PPS number of the parent in receipt of child benefit to confirm that they are eligible to participate. Parents will initially be asked if they want a wider choice of school patrons, and will then be asked to vote in order of preference for the alternative patrons who have expressed an interest in running schools in their areas. They’ll also be asked if they prefer single sex or co-educational schools and if they would prefer an Irish-speaking or English-speaking school.
The Department of Education will run local media campaigns to get the word out, while information will also be available in schools and from the patron bodies. The survey will largely be conducted online, but there will also be a paper-based option for parents, and surveys must be submitted before November 9.
If a demand for alternative patronage is identified, the department will explore with the existing patrons the transfer of patronage of schools. It is impossible to estimate how many of the 3,000 Catholic primary schools will ever be handed over, and at what pace, but Education Minister Ruairi Quinn wants to name the first batch by next June.
The surveys follow on from recommendations from the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector, which set out a roadmap for the handover process.As well as providing greater choice on grounds of religion, the advisory body also highlighted a need for more allIrish schools. Mr Quinn described it as a historic opportunity for parents to reshape the primary school landscape for generations to come and urged all those eligible to make sure that their voices were heard. He said for many parents this would be the first time they would have a real say in the type of primary school they want their children to go to, whether it was denominational, multi-denominational, allIrish or another kind.
The survey process will be overseen by the independent New Schools Establishment Group and detailed reports on the outcomes will be published. The department has set up a free helpline for anyone who has any difficulties with the survey – 1800 303621 – which will be open Monday to Friday, 9.30am-1pm and 2pm-5pm.
www.independent.ie
Up to 5,000 teachers in the firing line for cuts
Deireadh Fómhair 15, 2012
MORE than 5,000 teachers face losing their allowances under a government review.
One of the targets is an allowance of between €532 and €1,572 paid to more than 2,750 primary and post-primary principals. Two in three of the country’s principals are in receipt of the payment for acting as secretary to the school board of management. The payment of a similar allowance to principals acting as secretary to a board of management in an institute of technology is also under scrutiny. Special allowances paid to teachers who teach through Irish, work in the Gaeltacht or who work on an island, are also being targeted for abolition.
The Gaeltacht grant is worth €3,063 to about 780 primary and post-primary teachers, while about 1,800 receive an annual €1,583 for teaching through Irish. About 30 teachers are in receipt of the island allowance, which is worth €1,842 per year. Department of Public expenditure and Reform general secretary Robert Watt has told the Department of Education that these were the priority for elimination. The proposal will now be discussed with the trade unions.
www.independent.ie
Tá eagla orm ahead of Gaelscoil grilling
Deireadh Fómhair 15, 2012
I’ve been summoned to an interview for a primary school.
Not for me — for Miss Almost Nine Months old. Yes, seriously! Apparently, it’s time to secure a place for September 2016. We decided on a Gaelscoil, so a friend advised me to speak as Gaeilge during the interview to create the ‘right’ impression. So … this very bun-leibheal mammy will attempt to caint enough Gaeilge to wedge little missy’s foot firmly in the doras. Oh ta eagla orm! I really didn’t expect this but perhaps it’s to check if I’ll tuig the parent-teacher meetings. Of course, if she’s like mise, I’ll get by on ‘Cailin dana’ agus ‘Ta si ag caint gan stad!’
Now, when it comes to Conas ata tus, I can hold my own and even show off with my Dia is Muire Duit a Iosa. But beyond that, it’s going to be an uphill struggle — which is a disgrace and why we want her to go to a Gaelscoil and acquire more than just a cupla focal. Agus Dadai? He’s suggested that he doesn’t attend as his Irish is limited to “Ta an-athas orm an corn seo a ghlacadh ar foireann Uibh Fhaili”. Mind you, with him being a Biffo, it’s a rare occasion that he gets to say or hear it! So it’s just mise. But I’ve a plan. I’m going to replicate my Irish oral exam; learn and regurgitate a big spiel as soon as I’m asked a question, any question, thus preventing the muinteoir from getting a word in edgeways.
It’s a risky strategy I know, but my only other Irish trick is to do my one, two, threes. They are rather impressive. I think. I could even put my hands behind my back and accompany it with a rendition of Aon Focal Eile. But dadai assures me that whatever damage my Gaeilge or his GAA speech might do, my dancing would be a fait accompli.
Let’s just hope they don’t read this! If they do, gabh mo leithsceal, ta bron orm.
www.independent.ie
Education faces a new test
Deireadh Fómhair 5, 2012
FOR all its critics, the Irish educational system gets more right than wrong.
But a hardy perennial, when it comes to complaints, is the cry that our second- level schools teach by rote and that stressed students, in both the junior and senior cycles, resort to cramming in the home straight.
Yesterday Education Minister Ruairi Quinn announced a radical shake- up of the junior cycle by heralding the scrapping of the Junior Certificate, replacing it with a system of continuous assessment.
As much as 40pc of the assessment of each subject will be based on schoolwork and the rest in the shape of written exams by teachers.
Under this system there will still be standardised tests in English, Irish, Maths and Science.
This seems a progressive move and perhaps an indication of what might later apply, in some disciplines at least, in the Leaving Cert. But that is another day’s work.
The change, however, has not been unreservedly welcomed. Teachers’ unions have expressed fears that abolishing traditional state exams could erode parents’ trust in the system.
And then there is the issue of the necessary resources to fashion this new assessment process. Are there any?
The first batch of pupils to experience this brave new world start secondary school in the autumn of 2014.
That doesn’t give the Department of Education a whole lot of time to iron out any wrinkles, but plenty of time for its critics to expose any lingering flaws.
www.independent.ie
There’s just no getting away from Dumbo in the corner
Deireadh Fómhair 1, 2012
Only one in 25 primary pupils takes foreign language
Meán Fómhair 24, 2012
Parents get vote to take schools out of control of the Church
Meán Fómhair 18, 2012
Call for schools to make Mandarin a priority
Meán Fómhair 14, 2012
