The TUI is proud to welcome all refugee students to Ireland's schools and colleges and will do all in its power to ensure they have the same rights as Irish students, the union's president has said.
Replying to the Minister for State, Mr Willie O'Dea, Mr Joe Carolan said "efforts are being made by the Department of Justice and by your Department to curtail the right to education of refugees and asylum-seekers by proposing to levy prohibitively high fees (£2,030) on such students. That is totally unacceptable. We as a country should know all about having to leave our country to go overseas. I have to inform you that the TUI will do all in its power to uphold the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers to education within this State, at the same cost and on the same basis as Irish citizens," he said.
Mr Carolan welcomed grants for post-Leaving Certificate students and the Government's commitment to increased capital spending for PLC colleges. However, he asked what was being done for the teachers who had developed the highly successful PLC sector; the TUI had lodged a pay claim for them four years ago which had been consistently turned down.
He asked Mr O'Dea to support the immediate appointment of a facilitator to address this claim. Earlier the Minister of State said they could "proceed to facilitation" if the TUI signed up to a new conciliation and arbitration scheme already agreed by the other unions.
Mr Carolan said the appointment of assistant principals in VEC, community and comprehensive schools had led to teaching hours being lost which required 100 teachers to make up the shortfall. He said the cut-backs in teaching hours were playing havoc with special needs and remedial programmes.
He welcomed the Minister's offer to improve the facilities in Youth-reach centres and paid tribute to the work being done in those centres. However he pointed out that "all this good work is being done almost exclusively by part-time members who are still not recognised as teachers by your Department".
But he warned that "the more successful the programme, the greater the workload for teachers and schools, especially in the area of planning and administration. This makes for an in-built disincentive to participate in these programmes. It is imperative that the administrative workload be taken off the backs of teachers. Teachers' prime duty is to teach. Let the teachers teach," he said.