A chara, - The Taoiseach's views on the ASTI pay claim have done little to address the critical issue of teacher morale. In claiming credit for the introduction of new courses he chose to ignore the fact that in-service courses and IT upskilling come about at a significant cost to teachers in terms of cost and time. The IT 2000 course attended by most teachers took place over a period of two weekends, with the majority getting no expenses, not to mention time in lieu. Try that on the private sector!
Mr Ahern ought to be aware that delivery of a quality service in education, as in health, is conditional on the quality and morale of the personnel involved. Morale among Irish teachers is now at an all-time low and is such that it threatens further economic progress and endangers the extra-curricular dimension of our much vaunted education system.
Furthermore, his selective references to OECD studies does him no credit for that very same body has also stated that there is a gap of $10,000 between the average earnings of secondary teachers after 15 years' service and the earnings of other graduate employees in Ireland.
It might also be of interest to the Taoiseach that a great number of the H. Dip students he refers to are pursuing a postgraduate qualification per se and have no intention of entering the financially unrewarding world of teaching.
Dare I suggest to An Taoiseach that public lectures and dialoguing through the media are no substitute for honest engagement? - Yours, etc.,
Sean Higgins, Former President, ASTI, Westway, Beabeg, Drogheda.