Mind your mannersOnly one question dominates the teacher conference chatter – what kind of reception awaits Ruairí Quinn today at the INTO and the ASTI and tomorrow at the TUI?
Last week, both Pat King of the ASTI and John MacGabhann of the TUI put down a marker; they will not tolerate bad manners and discourtesy towards their invited guest. In a thinly-veiled reference to Socialist Party members, King also warned that the ASTI conference was no place for party politics. Will the radical fringe in all three unions obey their masters?
Smile for the cameras
Has the spirit of glasnost finally arrived at the secretive Department of Education? For several months, Wildfire Films have been filming a fly-on-the wall documentary about life in Marlborough Street. The programme makers have been given unprecedented access to meetings involving Minister Ruairí Quinn and his senior officials. Tentatively named Inside the Department, it will be broadcast by RTÉ in the autumn.
It’s good to see the Department opening up and casting off its traditional culture of secrecy. Quinn deserves the credit. Next, he should review the Department’s restrictive operation of the Freedom of Information Act.
Lineker crys foul
Gary Lineker doesn’t often feature in this column but the Match of the Day anchor and former footballer is the talk of education in Britain.
Last week, he blamed an elite British private school for failing to get his son George into university.
Lineker accused Charterhouse in Surrey – where annual fees are over €30,000 – of treating his son as a “guinea pig” by ditching A-levels in favour of a new exam system, Cambridge Pre-U.
Responding to the comments, the Surrey school said it was “proud” of its students’ grades.Sensibly, the school made no reference to what the British papers term George’s “fun loving” lifestyle.” The 18-year-old, who had hoped to do business at Manchester University, enjoyed a holiday in Tenerife just weeks before his exams. He was also pictured out with ex-Big Brother contestant Sophie Reade, 22.
Race for UCD post
Interesting to see UCD has already begun the process of finding Hugh Brady’s successor as president – even though he is not due to step down until late next year. The Governing Authority has elected Ronan Fanning, Dermot Moran and Dr Marie Clarke to the selection committee while the Academic Council has elected Orla Feely and Gerard Casey. Three additional external members will be approved by the next governing authority meeting.
Brady, who is nearing the end of a 10-year term, has been the most controversial figure in Irish higher education over this period.
Admirers see him as someone who has revitalised a sleepy UCD, introducing much needed reform. Critics resent his pro-business agenda and his “managerialism.”
Current UCD registrar Mark Rogers is the early favourite along with Prof Des Fitzgerald, who ran for the provost post in TCD.
One intriguing question: will Brian McCraith – so successful as DCU president – be a candidate?
Academics fight back
Brady looms large in an interesting new book Degree of Nonsense where Tom Garvin, professor emeritus of politics at UCD continues to rail against the Brady era. Garvan concludes that “university reform” has proven to be an existential threat to the country.
He also writes: “It is open season lately on Irish academics. The spin is we are lazy, work only five hours a week, are no good and are widely believed, quite inaccurately to have huge pay packets. In my experience, most Irish academics are enthusiastic, love their subjects, enjoy teaching and strive to increase their research and understanding.”
... in complete contrast
That article by Paul Mooney, the former head of the National College of Ireland on the “light workload” of lecturers continues to dominate discussion. Ruairí Quinn described the article as “provocative . . . with some interesting views.”
Mooney's lengthy response to his many critics is at tandemconsulting.wordpress.com.
TCD's Brian Lucey – one of Mooney's most trenchant critics – has published this response on his own blog on brianmlucey.wordpress.com
Email: sflynn@irishtimes.com
