The guffaws from Fine Gael members that followed Michael O’Leary’s comments gave a glimpse of the culture of that party.
They have consistently undermined the public sector and with it, those who work there. Irish society needs to value teachers, nurses, firefighters – not insult them
There are too many landlords in the Dáil, not too many teachers.
In the last Dáil, 25% of TDs were either landlords or owned rented property. No wonder there are no serious rent controls or security of tenure.
This has led to many young teachers emigrating. It is now estimated that 4,600 registered teachers – mainly younger ones- have moved abroad.
To bring change, we need to work towards a left government that excludes the conservative parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
The first step is to vote No 1 for People Before Profit candidates who can make a real difference in the Dáil.
Leaving Cert ‘Reform’
Joe Daly, ASTI Member and People Before Profit candidate in Mayo writes
‘It seems like groundhog day with senior cycle change where the same mistakes made during the junior cycle reform are being made all over again.
‘Almost everybody is for Leaving Cert reform but the accelerated pace planned for it will be a disaster for students not to mention a nightmare for teachers and parents”
‘We have a complete lack of depth of treatment in syllabi, no teacher guidelines produced, no sample examination papers or marking schemes prepared, and no rationale or research-based evidence laid out to underpin the changes taking place.”
‘It seems that Minister Foley was blindly following the failed logic of the new junior cycle when she unilaterally announced senior cycle reform in the spring of 2023 without the agreement of teachers' unions.
The next Minister for Education must postpone the implementation of the senior cycle redevelopment until the serious concerns of teachers are addressed in full”