In school but not learning

Dear Editor, The White Paper on Education launched by the Minister for Education last Easter, states that the amount of time that students spend in organised learning activities critically influences their academic performance and all round development.

It goes on to say that the total amount of time spent in school depends upon the length of the school day, the length of the school year and the number of years in which a student attends school.

However, "time spent in school" and "time spent in organised learning activities" are two entirely different things. When a child's teacher is absent and no substitute cover is available, that child will be in school alright, but he or she will not necessarily be engaged in "organised" learning activities.

At present there are two possible options. Either the child is placed in another class for the day, in which case he or she is most likely to be set some sort of revision work that will stop them from interfering with the work of the rest of the class, or they will be looked after for the day by someone who is not a teacher.

We must not forget that our class sizes in primary schools are still by far the biggest in the EU. Adding two or three second class pupils to a sixth class which already has up to 37 pupils is not a recipe for an enriching educational experience. And placing someone who is not a teacher in charge of a class is no more acceptable than placing a house sale in the hands of someone who is not a solicitor.

The truth of the matter is that children are being swindled out of their entitlement to real time in school by the current crisis in substitution. It is long past time that the issue of cover for absent teachers was properly addressed and the only way to do this is to establish a nationwide system of supply panels and to increase the intake into the colleges of education to ensure that there are enough teachers to fill them.

The teachers currently working on the pilot projects must be made permanent if we are to believe that the Minister is serious about resolving this problem.

Of course time in school is important. But is must be time spent in school with a teacher, and not the current charade which cheats the most vulnerable in our society out of their education. We owe them more. Yours, 34 Newtown Court, Maynooth, Co Kildare