An insider's guide to education

You can usually expect plenty of blood and thunder in the run-up to the teacher conferences. So why has a pre-conference lull settled on the education sector this year?

Here's why. The INTO, by far the most powerful lobby group, is taking a break from megaphone diplomacy, opting instead for tough negotiations with Mary Hanafin. Great progress, we hear, is being made behind the scenes on issues such as class size and disadvantage.

But let's hope this polite way of doing business does not catch on. Where would it all leave the hard-pressed hack?

Asti, meanwhile, is also anxious not to stoke any flames. Acting general secretary John White - so successful in steering Asti into less troubled waters - has his own reasons for keeping mum. His appointment as general secretary is set to be ratified after the Easter conference.

For its part, the TUI is still revelling in the successful lobbying campaign which delivered the new commission on discipline.

But there are some in the Rathgar bunker who believe the union is still punching below its weight in media terms.

Some would like to see its press officer Conor Griffin - who excelled in a former role with the USI - given much more freedom to set the agenda.

There is some unease among principals about the latest missive to parents from the National Education Welfare Board, the school attendance body. The letter states: "It is desirable that every child stays in school and completes the Leaving Cert."

One principal's response? "This is utter nonsense.. it implies there is something wrong with apprenticeships."

All the more surprising, then, that the board includes a representative of Fás, which looks after apprenticeships.

In this post-Oscars season interesting to note that moves are afoot to make a film biography of James Connolly. The James Connolly Foundation for Educational Equality hopes to divert funds from the movie to projects designed to achieve greater educational equality. Trustees of this admirable project include former Asti president Pat Cahill and former Siptu boss, Des Geraghty. Adrian Dunbar has been slated to direct the movie, as the Hollywood Reporter might put it.

Speaking of the INTO conference, the Waterford branch wants the union to examine alternatives to the union's current bankers, AIB. This is in view of recent revelations relating to the Irish banking industry.

Another motion wants the union to end its commercial arrangement with Coca- Cola. The Dundalk branch wants the union top brass to stop supporting promotional activities that involve the collection of tokens.

Got any education gossip? E-mail us, in confidence, at teacherspet@irish-times.ie