Madam, – The strident remarks made by John Carr, general secretary of the INTO, together with the frosty reception for Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe at its recent national conference, mark a significant departure from the stance that both Mr Carr and the INTO have taken towards the Government in recent years.
You will recall that at the INTO national conference in April 2007, Mr Carr heaped praise on Fianna Fáil’s education policies and on the then Minister for Education Mary Hanafin in terms which one of your correspondents described as a series of “wild rhetorical flourishes” during which he was “effusive and slightly breathless” (The Irish Times, April 11th, 2008).
Mr Carr told Ms Hanafin: “You have made your mark in education, been good for education. You could . . . go from being a good Minister to a great Minister”. Mr. Carr also gave INTO backing to Fianna Fáil policies in the impending General Election, saying “The INTO would be happy to see you come back and finish the job that needs to be done in primary education”. These comments were greeted with rapturous applause by INTO delegates from around the country.
On that occasion, there was barely a mention by the INTO of the historic under-funding of the primary school system, the huge challenges facing teachers and parents who are forced to fundraise to maintain their schools, or the enormous disincentive for teachers to take a lead in extra-curricular activities. All of these problems were just as stark then as they are now, but like many trade unions in other sectors who were involved in the social partnership process, delegates and union officials were mollified into silence by a Government which was waving its pre-election cheque book.
Having given such hearty backing to empty Government promises, how on earth can Mr Carr and the INTO now seek to wash their hands completely of their own role in the crisis which faces our education system? Before rightly criticising the Government, should teachers throughout the country not reflect on the leadership which their own union has given them? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Listening to the usual diatribe of hate and begrudgery being read out in the media in response to the teachers’ conferences, I am led to the following simple conclusion. We must simply accept that a great number of people dislike and resent teachers like me because of the supposedly high quality of life we enjoy.
Acknowledging this fact allows us to discount these people from any objective analysis of the crisis in education whilst the rest of us get on with addressing the facts. These are that more children will sit in overcrowded classrooms next year, children with special needs will see these needs ignored, supports for less well-off families are being removed and teachers are, yes are, losing their jobs.
Ireland must cut its cloth to fit its measure. However, we are not immune from the essential truths as presented by President Obama in Georgetown this week. One of these is the need for a dynamic, progressive education system.
It should not surprise us that the current government has opted for cutbacks in education. Their property development friends specialised in offering dead-end unskilled jobs to young men who now have no work to go to. Instead of focusing on making a living for the country as an international trading nation, too many Irish businesses, members of those wonderful organisations IBEC and ISME, were content to foster a domestic consumer and credit bubble that has finally burst. This is hardly what one would call a smart economy. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As someone who has a love of the English language may I thank the teachers of Ireland for giving us a new word today. “Vandaling” is lovely, but is it better than “Minitster” which was pictured on your front page a few years ago? Literacy in the classroom? Teachers first in the queue, please. – Yours, etc,