Concession on special needs ‘is damaging our exams’
“Second-level school principals say the integrity of Leaving and Junior Certificate exams is at risk because of the growth of special arrangements for candidates with certain needs. They are...
View ArticleWhy American bosses say Irish schools could do better
“US multinationals have caused some soul-searching among teachers and educators after their severe criticisms of the Irish education system. The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland — an influential...
View ArticlePoor state of schools shameful – Puttnam
“The physical infrastructure of many of Ireland’s schools should be a cause for national shame, Lord David Puttnam, the Open University chancellor and a British Labour Party peer, has said. Lord...
View ArticleClosing Ireland’s school readiness gap: the ‘Preparing for Life’ programme
“Environmental conditions brought about by poverty are often detrimental to healthy child development. Childhood disadvantage can result in a number of negative outcomes later in life, including low...
View ArticleParents say schoolchildren not advised for future – ESRI
“Parents think that the education system is not doing enough to prepare students for the world of work or to provide them with life skills, according to a new survey. The report, by the Economic and...
View ArticleStudents are most worried about the way they are taught
“The system we have is not in a position to deliver the skilled developers of a knowledge economy …” (more) [Ferdinand von Prondzynski, University Blog, 4 May]
View ArticleSecondary education not reflecting role of technology, claims Minister
“We have been ‘codding’ ourselves in believing we have one of the best education systems in the world, Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn has said. Our modern technology-driven existence is...
View ArticleSchool facilities: do they matter for students learning?
“Deciding what school you or your children are to go to is an extremely important decision. In many cases parents don’t have much choice if there aren’t many schools nearby or they don’t have a lot of...
View ArticleSchools may face litigation over poor guidance for pupils
“Schools could face legal action from parents if pupils are not given proper guidance and counselling, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday …” (more) [Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 2 February]
View ArticleRuling no more than a stay of execution for institutions restricting enrolment
“The High Court ruling in the Clonmel case will be welcomed by many schools. Essentially, it maintains the status quo. Schools are free to set their own admissions policies – provided they are...
View ArticleEU: Education cuts undermine potential
“Cuts in education budgets risk undermining the economy’s growth potential, the EU has warned Ireland as the country moves closer to the bottom of the international league table in spending on schools...
View ArticlePressure on Quinn despite cuts reversal
“Education Minister Ruairi Quinn still faces political pressure over a number of budget cuts despite a significant rowback on the planned withdrawal of teachers from 132 disadvantaged primary schools...
View ArticleQuinn’s U-turn on teachers to hit school spending
“Hundreds of primary schools face new difficulties in paying for basic utilities such as heating and lighting after a fresh cut in school maintenance supports. The cut in capitation support is designed...
View ArticleLoss of guidance service ‘will increase inequality’
“The possible loss of guidance services in schools will increase inequality in Irish education, the body representing guidance counsellors has claimed …” (more) [Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 3 March]
View ArticleProgramme 129, Paddy Madden on teaching spring, and Chinese
“Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. Report on introducing Chinese to Irish schools by Barry Hennessy. On this programme environmentalist and educator Paddy Madden discusses how teachers can mark...
View Article€1.5bn spend to prioritise new schools
“The Government will today outline plans for dozens of new schools as part of a €1.5bn construction programme. But a dwindling capital budget and rising birthrates in larger cities and towns mean the...
View ArticleA blank slate to reinvent secondary schools
“Irish parents increasingly want more for their children than just Leaving Certificate points. Parents of the 14,000 pupils in the 60 Educate Together primary schools around the country have been...
View ArticleUrgent need for more schools
“The school building programme which Education Minister Ruairi Quinn announced yesterday merits only a guarded welcome. Mr Quinn has done his best within the ferocious financial restraints under which...
View ArticleScrap ‘self-indulgent’ transition year, urges elderly lobby group
“In what might be seen as the first salvo in an inter-generational war, Friends of the Elderly has called for the scrapping of transition year. The organisation, which provides 400 volunteers to...
View Article‘Code of discipline can’t be changed for exam students’
“School discipline rules should not be changed for sixth-year students involved in serious misbehaviour or whose pranks get out of hand, a principals’ leader has claimed …” (more) [Niall Murray, Irish...
View ArticleProgramme 142, Mark Candon on Being Principal of a School Serving a...
“Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this week’s programme Mark Candon, who is currently on study leave from his position as principal of St. Laurence O’Toole’s CBS in Dublin, discusses the...
View ArticleSchools told not to reduce tuition time
“Schools could face serious consequences if they send students home early or cancel classes because of cuts in staffing, the Department of Education has warned. It said Ruairi Quinn, the education...
View ArticleColum Kenny on Need for Educational Reform
“Presented and produced by Seán Delaney. On this programme, Professor Colum Kenny from DCU’s School of Communications talks about the need for our education system to be more responsive to the needs of...
View ArticleLimerick school’s fury at ‘inaccurate’ tables
“A high-profile education supplement carried in two national newspapers contained a ‘very serious inaccuracy’ about a city’s school’s transfer rate to third level education, causing uproar in the...
View ArticleStudent league tables and success
“… Why present a percentage of Leaving Certificate candidates that went on to study at one of the seven universities in Ireland? This is a very narrow view of ‘success’ and can often be misleading …”...
View ArticleCroke Park will hit schools’ senior management hardest
“Croke Park II is a very good deal for teachers, and, notwithstanding any advice from union executives, I believe that the majority of teachers will accept it when it goes to a ballot in the coming...
View ArticleStudents losing out due to cutbacks, says school body
“Students are losing out, personally and educationally, because frontline services in schools have not been protected, as claimed by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn, it has been claimed …” (more)...
View ArticleFacebook ignores call by principals for talks on cyber-bullies
“Facebook has ignored a request for a meeting with Irish school principals to discuss the risks associated with the misuse of social networks by young people …” (more) [Katherine Donnelly, Independent,...
View ArticleThe myth of free education in Ireland
“… €370 for uniform and books to come. In 68 fees were abolished but the cost remains. There is nothing to stop Minister Quinn mandating that all state supported schools adopt a simple uniform policy...
View ArticleIrish children twice as likely to dislike school
“A study has found that Irish ten-year-olds are less happy in school and are more likely to feel that they do not ‘belong’, compared to children in other countries …” (more) [RTÉ News, 12 June]
View ArticleBarnardos criticises cost of school books
“Parents are facing a crippling financial burden as they prepare to send their children back to school. Costs can run to almost €800 per student and the expense is causing frustration and despair, the...
View ArticleQuinn eager to give parents more control over education costs
“Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn said he is considering new ways to give parents more power to control the costs of education including ‘a Parents Charter’ …” (more) [Judith Crosbie, Irish Times, 2...
View ArticleJobbridge: All Staff or some?
“Over the summer holiday period, while school activity has been cooling down, there has been a slow burning-fire flickering in the back ground. The kindling for this fire is the Government Jobs...
View ArticleMove from current religious instruction in Catholic schools may begin by 2014
“The complex process of divestment from traditional religious instruction in Catholic schools is to be explored with a view to beginning to introduce a change by 2014 …” (more) [Louise Roseingrave,...
View ArticleMinister overhauls school enrolment policies
“Schools will no longer be allowed to charge application fees, operate waiting lists or interview parents or children for school places under new legislation to control admissions policies …” (more)...
View ArticleStakeholders in education should unite against the divide and rule strategy
“Divide and conquer. It’s the oldest trick in the book, and you know why? A lot of the time it works. Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has hinted at cuts amounting to €100 million in the next budget...
View ArticleSchools to close as teacher pay row escalates
“Full-day closures of secondary schools will begin next week as a direct result of the teachers’ pay row …” (more) [Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 18 October]
View ArticleCollaboration and professional development: big changes in teacher-training
“‘A scream for reform” was how Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn described last month’s Inspectorate report on teaching standards in our schools. It has left the rest of the country asking: what are...
View ArticleQuinn blocks tables
“Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has moved to block the public and the media from getting exams data which they could use to compile schools’ league tables. Mr Quinn yesterday secured Cabinet approval...
View ArticleJobBridge to nowhere
“… some fairly disgusting stuff revealed here about how some in education are using the JobBridge scheme. Cleaners, SNA’s, the non-existent posts of ‘Classroom Assistants’ and ‘Cúntoir Ranga’ as well...
View ArticleBurton awaits report on JobBridge cleaning posts
“Department officials are to report to Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton about the JobBridge controversy in which school cleaner and caretaker jobs were advertised on the intern scheme …”...
View ArticleEvery post-primary school in Ireland now has high speed broadband
“A €30m three-year programme to provide every post-primary school in the country with high speed broadband has been completed …” (more) [Sorcha Corcoran, Business and Leadership, 4 December]
View ArticleSchool is responsible for ruining my brain
“In June 2012 I returned to Ireland from London, prepared to lock myself away, write my thesis and complete the final part of my MSc in my parents’ attic. I had just spent a very challenging year...
View ArticleCoursework and assessing students
“A chara, – Whisper it as there are many teachers, parents and Department of Education officials that may not want to hear it, but there is more than a little truth in the suggestion by Matthew...
View ArticleThe high price of Ireland’s ‘free’ education
“Every year for the guts of a decade, a back-to-school piece has appeared on the Pricewatch page, and every year we have highlighted how our ‘free’ education system costs parents hundreds of euro each...
View ArticleThe double-think at the heart of teacher training
“Opinion: There’s a disconnect between teacher education and the reality in schools. What is the point of initial teacher education? Based on my experience as a teacher and teacher educator, I pose the...
View ArticleThe changing face of how we assess our students
“This milestone month, which sees the start of classroom assessment and the launch of a centre for excellence in the area, gives a glimpse of the future, writes our education correspondent …” (more)...
View ArticleIrish education costs are ‘unfair’, Barnardos claims
“The Irish education system has ‘inequality and unfairness’ at its core, while claims of free education are an ‘insult’ to parents struggling to cover back-to-school costs, Barnardos has said …” (more)...
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