An insider’s guide to education
* While a successful education system is the key to our future, don’t expect education to feature prominently in the forthcoming election campaign.
What you can expect is a great deal of platitudes about boosting literacy, tackling disadvantage and building a “world class’’ system. Just don’t expect any detail.
All the main political parties are terrified of the powerful teacher unions, not to mention the 90,000 who work across the education sector. So it will be all sweetness and light on the election trail.
The problem, of course, is that Irish education is actually at a critical turning point. A system which aspires to be “cutting edge’’ and “world class’’ is nothing of the sort. Instead, it languishes in mid-table in literacy, maths and science.
There are several senior political figures with a strong appetite for radical reform of Irish education. Brian Hayes and Richard Bruton of Fine Gael, Ruairí Quinn of Labour and Eamonn O’Cuiv in Fianna Fáil have provocative views on issues like inequality and accountability within the system.
But will they let off the leash in the election campaign? Don’t bet on it .
* More on Bangkok-gate, that troubling saga involving two key figures in the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) .
The decision of general secretary, Peter MacMenamin and president Bernie Ruane to attend an education conference is still making waves. The Mail on Sundaygave the trip the full treatment with photos of the smiling pair strolling through the "chaotic streets'' of the city.
In another setback the TUI’s 1,000-strong Dublin branch has passed a “very strongly worded motion criticising Peter MacMenamin and Bernie Ruane for “travelling to Thailand at this juncture’.’
The TUI leadership is claiming – a la Sky’s Richard Keys – that “dark forces’’ were at work in leaking news of the trip and in the subsequent media coverage.
But, with the union all over the place on the Croke Park deal, this is the kind of publicity it could do without.
* Although he has been labelled as indecisive in Health and Enterprise, the new Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin had a good record in Education.
Some senior figures thought Martin has lost it when he said exam students should be allowed to view their papers; now this transparency is a integral part of our exam system. Martin was also very good on special needs, educational disadvantage and the growing demand for multi-denominational education.
In his first address as Fianna Fáil leader week, Martin railed against the traditional cronyism in appointments to State boards.
With dozens of vacancies in the various education quangos, it will be interesting to see if Fianna Fáil nuacan resist old temptations!
* Speaking of jobs, there has been a warm response to the appointment of Ericsson chairman, John Hennessy as the new chair of the Higher Education Authority.
Hennessy begins his five year, part-time role yesterday.
His first task? Clawing back over €6 million in unauthorised allowances paid to senior dons at UCD. Talk about a baptism of fire!
Got any education gossip? E-mail in confidence to teacherspet@irishtimes.com
