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If I were the Minister for Education...

Here is my project to suggest ways for our education system to be the best it can be. I have a few ideas, which I’d love help fleshing out.

Latest Episode

Idea	Theme	categories_hfilter
001. Separate Church and State	Equality, Religion	equality-ideas-2 religion ideas-2
002. Give equal funding to primary and second level	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
003. Fund ICT properly, not as part of minor works	Finance, Technology	finance technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
004. Make a decision on Gaeilge – all Gaelscoils or none	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
005. Scrap the NCSE	DES, SEN	des sen ideas-2
006. A Fully-Resourced NEPS to take over Assessment of Need	DES, SEN	des sen ideas-2
007. Scrap the patronage system	Religion	religion ideas-2
008. Ban spelling and tables tests	Curriculum, Uncategorised	curriculum-ideas-2 uncategorised ideas-2
009. Should we scrap school uniforms?	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
010. Guarantee Minor Works Funding	Finance	finance ideas-2
011. Reboot the School Completion Programme	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
012. Scrap single sex schools	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
013. Reorganise salary scale	DES, Finance, Union	des finance union ideas-2
014. Rethink Croke Park Hours	DES, Union	des union ideas-2
015. Centralise and Standardise ICT	Technology	technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
016. Allow Teachers to use Social Media as They See Fit	Teaching Council, Technology	teaching-council-ideas-2 technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
017. Remove all Union Involvement from Teaching Council	Teaching Council, Union	teaching-council-ideas-2 union ideas-2
018. Ensure that classes for children with ASD are properly supported	SEN	sen ideas-2
019. We need far more special classes to cater for all needs	SEN	sen ideas-2
020. Provide Mental Health Services to Pupils	SEN	sen ideas-2
021. Scrap the new Primary Language Curriculum	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
022. Change the Curriculum Structure	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
023. The DES should develop curriculum content	Curriculum, DES, Technology	curriculum-ideas-2 des technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
024. Try to become paper-free in terms of content	Curriculum, Technology	curriculum-ideas-2 technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
025. Free School Lunches for All Pupils	DES, Equality	des equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
026. Ban Fundraising	Finance	finance ideas-2
027. Ensure every town has adequate and fully funded provision for swimming	Equality, Finance	equality-ideas-2 finance ideas-2
028. Have a Maximum Class Size	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
029. Principal Benchmarking Should Be Awarded	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
030. No more Teaching Principals	DES, Union	des union ideas-2
031. Each enrollment to a school should come with a grant for miscellaneous items	Finance	finance ideas-2
032. Replace small schools with “hubs”	DES	des ideas-2
033. Reassess Positions of Responsibility	DES	des ideas-2
034. Change Infants structure	DES	des ideas-2
035. Classroom Assistants instead of SNAs	SEN	sen ideas-2
036. Bus Escorts to be employed by Bus Eireann	DES	des ideas-2
037. Replace Boards of Managements	DES	des ideas-2
038. Reduce the number of stakeholders in primary education	DES, Teaching Council, Union	des teaching-council-ideas-2 union ideas-2
039. Scrap Homework	Curriculum, Equality	curriculum-ideas-2 equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
040. All Special Schools to come under one system	SEN	sen ideas-2
041. Rule: Add an Initiative, Remove an Initiative	DES	des ideas-2
042. Outsource obesity to parents	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
043. Scrap Section 29s	DES	des ideas-2
044. “Trademark” the title of Teacher	Teaching Council	teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
045. Diversify the profession	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
046. All schools should have provision for hot lunches	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
047. Have properly resourced sub panels	DES, Teaching Council	des teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
048. Abolish the Supplementary Panel	DES, Union	des union ideas-2
049. Provide specialised teachers for Irish	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
050. Scrap drama	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
051. Cluster OTs and SLTs to Schools	DES, SEN	des sen ideas-2
052. Have specialised qualifications for Infant teachers	Curriculum, DES	curriculum-ideas-2 des ideas-2
053. Scrap private colleges of education	Teaching Council	teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
054. Provide a Principal Step Down Facility	DES, Teaching Council, Union	des teaching-council-ideas-2 union ideas-2
055. Set contract of hours for teachers	DES, Teaching Council	des teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
056. Abolish favourable entry to Teacher Training for Protestants	DES, Religion	des religion ideas-2
057. DES should Provide Online Payslips	DES, Technology	des technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
058. Reduce circulars to maximum 1 per term	DES	des ideas-2
059. Pay grants based on current Enrollment rather than the previous year	Finance	finance ideas-2
060. No more paper based communication	DES, Technology	des technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
061. There should be a Transparent consultation process including a democratic response	DES	des ideas-2
062. Teachers should no longer be legally able to be fired due to their religious values	Equality, Religion	equality-ideas-2 religion ideas-2
063. Remuneration for Principals for managing all positions in the school	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
064. Caretakers should be paid directly by the DES	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
065. Replace some grants with local companies who compete to get tender	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
066. Secretaries to be paid a standard wage directly from DES	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
067. Cleaners should be contracted by the DES and paid directly by them	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
068. Any school with special classes must be given extra administrative support	SEN	sen ideas-2
069. Re-imagine the tendering process for building schools	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
070. Make primary education actually free	Finance	finance ideas-2
071. All schools to be sustainable	DES	des ideas-2
072. Outsource Physical Education	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
073. All schools to have Student Councils	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
074. All schools to have websites	Technology	technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
075. POD to be scrapped	DES	des ideas-2
076. Scrap privately run online summer courses	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
077. Teaching council should provide a phone mentoring service	Teaching Council	teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
078. Church properly compensates pupil victims for abuse	DES, Religion	des religion ideas-2
079. Do not allow external agencies teach RSE	Curriculum, Religion	curriculum-ideas-2 religion ideas-2
080. Should We Collapse Droichead?	Teaching Council	teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
081. Ensure that RSE is standardised	Curriculum, Religion	curriculum-ideas-2 religion ideas-2
082. Provide one year of mentoring to any teacher starting in a new position	Teaching Council	teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
083. Replace the inspectorate with a mentoring system	DES	des ideas-2
084. No tolerance for violence	DES, Union	des union ideas-2
085. Ensure the use of technology remains a methodology, not a subject	Technology	technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
086. Scrap VAT for schools	Finance	finance ideas-2
087. Scrap standardised testing	DES	des ideas-2
088. Lose Long Division from the Maths Curriculum	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
089. Scrap the NEWB or get rid of the unnecessary paperwork	DES	des ideas-2
090. No faith formation should be provided in school buildings during the day.	Religion	religion ideas-2
091. Any faith formation must be provided in parish centres or religious-owned buildings.	Religion	religion ideas-2
092. No priority to be given to native Irish speakers for enrollment in Gaelscoileanna.	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
093. All schools must have access to a hall for PE	Curriculum, DES, Finance	curriculum-ideas-2 des finance ideas-2
094. All schools need a Parents’ Room	DES	des ideas-2
095. SPHE to be given more time allocation	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
096. Introduce philosophy as a module	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
097. Scrap Music Generation	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
098. Ban competitions in schools from commercial entities	Finance	finance ideas-2
099. Financially reward schools that have low energy usage	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
100. Centralise photocopying management	Finance	finance ideas-2
101. Teach Irish like EAL	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
102. Scrap Creative Ireland	DES, Finance	des finance ideas-2
103. Infant classrooms should be designed differently	Curriculum, DES	curriculum-ideas-2 des ideas-2
104. Increase resources for EAL	DES, Finance, SEN	des finance sen ideas-2
105. E Charging points for all schools	Finance	finance ideas-2
106. All Healthy Eating programmes must be backed by dieticians	DES, Equality	des equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
107. Bullying outside of school shouldn’t be the responsibility of the school	DES	des ideas-2
108. Create opportunities for schools to network	DES, Teaching Council	des teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
109. Ensure teachers have a recognised voice in all consultations.	Curriculum, DES, Teaching Council, Union	curriculum-ideas-2 des teaching-council-ideas-2 union ideas-2
110. INTO need to reform their communication with members	Union	union ideas-2
111. Schools to be given free ICT Technical Support	DES, Technology	des technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
112. School transport to be completely free	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
113. Ban all voluntary contributions and donations	Finance	finance ideas-2
114. All technology should be ordered through a centralised system	Technology	technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
115. Create centres for pre and after school care	DES	des ideas-2
116. Schools shouldn’t responsible for parental choices around purchasing smart devices	DES, Technology	des technology-ideas-2 ideas-2
117. Increase the number of social workers	Equality, SEN	equality-ideas-2 sen ideas-2
118. Ensure all libraries are stocked with books that speak to all children	Curriculum, Equality, Religion	curriculum-ideas-2 equality-ideas-2 religion ideas-2
119. DES should provide standardised policies to all schools	DES	des ideas-2
120. (re)Introduce MFL into primary schools	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
121. Reform the PDST	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
122. Schools need Sports Facilities	Curriculum, Finance	curriculum-ideas-2 finance ideas-2
123. Set the same insurance rates for all schools	DES, Equality, Finance	des equality-ideas-2 finance ideas-2
124. All Fitness to Teach cases should be held privately.	Teaching Council	teaching-council-ideas-2 ideas-2
125. There should be a Teaching Assistant in every 2nd classroom	DES	des ideas-2
126. Primary and Secondary Principals should be on the same pay scale	Finance	finance ideas-2
127. Restoration of the 15% cut to Resource Hours to schools	SEN	sen ideas-2
128. Automatically Cluster SET Allocations	DES, SEN	des sen ideas-2
129. Ban Rote Learning of Tables	Curriculum	curriculum-ideas-2 ideas-2
130. All pupils should go to their nearest geographic school	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
131. Start calling teachers by their first names	Equality	equality-ideas-2 ideas-2
132. Centre Broadband Hubs around Schools	Technology	technology-ideas-2 ideas-2

Latest News

"State urged to remove school ethos as barrier to sex education" #edchatie

I'd remove the last 5 words to that headline.

Sorry, you can't have your cake and eat it. If schools have to have a Catholic ethos, then they have to follow the philosophies of Catholicism, whether they like them or not. You can't just pick and choose bits of a religion you like and then impose the bits you do like on everyone else. There is nothing

www.irishtimes.com/news/education/state-urged-to-remove-school-ethos-as-barrier-to-sex-education-... ... See MoreSee Less

State urged to remove school ethos as barrier to sex education

irishtimes.com

Youth Work Ireland says current laws allow schools to omit key aspects of curriculum

10 hours ago

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Ugh! I hate this sort of thing. #edchatie

While I get the idea of trying to counter the negativity out there towards teachers, these sort of initiatives have potentially dangerous connotations. Teacher of the Year competitions tend not to recognise the actual teachers of the year, who tend to just do their job quietly, but brilliantly.

www.irishtimes.com/news/education/transformative-role-of-teachers-recognised-in-new-initiative-1.... ... See MoreSee Less

‘Transformative’ role of teachers recognised in new initiative

irishtimes.com

Public invited to share personal stories of exceptional teachers

10 hours ago

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Desmond Awards. I honestly cringe at this kind of thing in teaching.

Don't like the paradigm, change it! I just nominated my colleague, they're exactly the kind of teacher you mention.

Donal Lynch: 'How Ireland turned its back on religion, but kept Communion' #edchatie

Congratulations to Donal Lynch for managing a full article without swearing or cringing. I can never do it.
www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/donal-lynch-how-ireland-turned-its-back-on-religion-but-kept-c... ... See MoreSee Less

Donal Lynch: 'How Ireland turned its back on religion, but kept Communion'

independent.ie

Streaks of fake tan on the bouncing castle. A pop-up charity shop overflowing with tulle, lace, chiffon and tiny jackets with rosettes. Princess packages and elaborate plaits at the loc

19 hours ago

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I don't like Music Generation because schools have to foot half the bill. #edchatie #halfmeasures

www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0513/1049099-music-generation/ ... See MoreSee Less

Music education programme expands with 5 new counties

rte.ie

Music Generation, the music education programme for young people, has announced it is expanding its programme to include Kerry, Kildare, Longford, Meath and Tipperary.

1 day ago

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Like everything so 😂 Except replace school with the word teacher.

Opinion: 'Children need to learn about LGBT issues in school - it will reassure them and combat fear' #edchatie

When 90% of primary schools are forbidden by their patron body from this, realistically how does this happen without teachers risking disciplinary? I totally understand that many teachers only pay lip service to their patron's rules but all it takes is one complaint and the house of cards fall.
www.thejournal.ie/readme/robin-stevens-lgbtq-issues-books-ireland-schools-4626281-May2019/ ... See MoreSee Less

Opinion: 'Children need to learn about LGBT issues in school - it will reassure them and combat fear'

thejournal.ie

Robin Stevens grew up in a generation were ‘gayness was erased’. Her books have shown her that young readers want to read about LGBTQ+ lives – and she wants to see more of this explo...

2 days ago

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