INTO:TEACHERS WHO had no part in the country's economic collapse bitterly resent "having their pockets picked" to bail out bankers, speculators and developers, Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Carr told the union's annual conference yesterday.
As educationalists, he said teachers “totally oppose the Government forcing children to pay for the recklessness and greed of Ireland’s casino capitalists”.
In his address, Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe acknowledged how “some of the decisions we have taken will cause real challenges for teachers and principals . . . but I’m asking for your co-operation during these difficult times for our country”.
The Minister also confirmed a new €80 million investment programme in schools.
The Summer Works Scheme allows schools to complete small-scale repairs to buildings during the summer. A further €20 million for energy conservation projects in schools would be provided as part of the new initiative.
Discussions were under way with the pension industry about a new funding system for school buildings, higher education and other public infrastructure, he said.
The Minister also announced the introduction of a new pilot project aimed at replacing rented prefab accommodation with permanent buildings.
Mr Carr said the land of saints and scholars was now sacrificing its scholars for its sinners.
“Where once young children paid to see a cowboy film, now they pay for the cowboys and, like Michael O’Leary’s airports, Ireland’s class sizes are miles away from where they should be”.
The INTO, which mainly represents teachers at primary level, estimates that 1,000 teaching posts will be lost because of the decision to increase class sizes from 27 to 28 in last year’s Budget. The Minister insists, however, that no more than 254 jobs will be lost in primary schools.
Mr Carr said the Minister must have learned his maths in an overcrowded class. “That’s Seán FitzPatrick-style accounting on the eve of an Anglo-Irish agm. And lest there be any misunderstanding, that remark is confined to the mathematics used and not to personal probity,” he said.
Mr Carr said teachers were angry with the Minister’s comments on teachers’ sick leave to a Dáil committee last October. The minister had suggested scores of teachers took sick leave each Monday and Friday, whereas less than 1 per cent of teachers are out on uncertified sick leave.
Mr O’Keeffe said he had immediately clarified the mistake to the media at the time. “It was an inaccurate statement but I corrected it and I rectified it, and if John Carr feels aggrieved, I’m sorry about that and I apologise to him.”
Mr Carr said Mr O’Keeffe should be in no doubt about the depth of anger among teachers about the Government’s handling of the economic crisis and the way the Government has failed to protect primary school pupils from its effects. He said this year alone, teachers had seen their pay cut by 7 per cent, taxes increased by 5 per cent, a pay deal reneged on, promotions embargoed and a pay award to principals sidelined.
He asked why the Government went after 30,000 teachers before going after the country’s 30,000 millionaires.
Mr O’Keeffe said he agreed with the INTO about the need for spending on education and limiting the impact of cutbacks.
“My focus is on the long-term wellbeing of the communities in which you work and live,” he said.
