The verdict on Hanafin: a 'steady as she goes' Minister

Teaching Matters:Ah, there's no doubt that she's a class act. Our school recently had its official opening, and in that polite two-step often witnessed on these occasions, it was opened by Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, and blessed by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin.

In the few minutes of conversation that the Minister had with the welcoming committee of sixth years, she had established what each of them wanted to do after the Leaving Cert, and the fact that they missed the atmosphere of the old school and especially the sixth-year corridor there.

She then wove these references seamlessly into a flawless speech, delivered without notes.

She also engineered a round of applause for staff, but the moment when you could really hear adult jaws dropping was when she referred to the names of the third-year classes.

The official opening took place after a Mass for the school community, which the Minister also attended.

As part of the opening procession, the names of every student, staff member and guest present on the day were carried up and deposited in a time capsule. The Minister registered the fact that the names of the third-year classes are Budapest, Prague, Riga, and Warsaw.

Now, dear reader, pause and see if you can figure out the significance of those names. The staffroom joke is that there are members of our own staff who are still not sure what the names represent, three years after the classes were named.

The Minister recognised the names of four of the capitals of the 10 countries that acceded to the EU in 2004, and used it as an opportunity to remind the pupils to be proud of their heritage as young Irish people and as Europeans. All of this was processed in the few minutes it took the pupils who were carrying the names to pass in front of her. Sharp, very sharp.

However, there is more to being Minister for Education and Science than delivering well-crafted, eloquent speeches on the day you officially deliver a €10.5 million school to delighted parents, students and staff.

It is a ministry that has almost as many minefields as the Department of Health, which was famously called "Angola" by Brian Cowen . Mary Hanafin may have adroitly tap-danced her way across many of them, but not all, and the unexploded mines are still there.

The Minister has presided over a period of unprecedented spending in education, but the needs are so great that she could have commanded a budget 10 times as large and it would still not be enough. Education has been affected by decades of underspending, and the Minister's smile has been known to become a little strained if mention is made yet again of the fact that of 30 OECD countries, we rank 29th when it comes to investment per second level pupil relative to GDP per capita.

Not as strained as when Bertie overturned her stated policy and sanctioned 4,000 extra teachers, but strained nonetheless.

How big a factor is education in the election? Certainly, the INTO has played a blinder on the issue of class size. Certain communities are furious about the lack of educational facilities for their children. Pupils with special needs remain a huge issue. The schools that have lost disadvantaged status are still not fully happy. Teachers still wield significant clout, if only because that even if there is a mini-hurricane under way on the day of voting, teachers will still go to the ballot box.

What about Opposition pretenders to the throne currently held by Mary? Irish voters tend to respond to surface impressions and to the representative's personality.

For example, Paul Gogarty of the Greens is young and hungry and has a comprehensive website dedicated to their education policy, but he is not exactly a household name.

Olwyn Enright of Fine Gael has a higher profile, but when asked about Fine Gael education policy, it is cruel but true that most people would probably mutter something about pre-school, laptops for kids and getting rid of Irish.

Labour's Jan O'Sullivan has an impressive commitment to those suffering from educational disadvantage, but who is to say that even in a rainbow coalition that the job would be hers? There are so many imponderables that only the foolhardy would predict the outcome of the upcoming election.

Mary Hanafin has been a competent, steady as she goes Minister, with the great gift of never having forgotten what it is like to stand in a classroom. She has made valuable progress on many issues, but the fate of every minister for education is to ultimately receive a "could do better" on their final report.

Aside from any of her own failures, as a member of Fianna Fáil, Mary Hanafin will not be immune to the fatigue factor that affects every member of that party. Ironically, it may not be any major problem or scandal that unseats Fianna Fáil, but simply the fact that the country is tired of looking at them.

Although there is speculation that Mary is easing herself into the role of contender for taoiseach, whatever her long-term ambitions, politics is a cruel game, and many a promising career has been cut short by an unlucky roll of the dice at an election.

However, the Minister knew that when she left the classroom, and all the evidence is that she considers the gamble well worthwhile.