New Minister for Education

Mary Coughlan is the new minister for education replacing Batt O’Keeffe. There has been some furore over this appointment, as Coughlan hasn’t exactly shone in her role as Tanaiste. Whilst Batt O’Keeffe’s tenure in the role of education minister will probably be best remebered for the savage cuts on special education and disadvantage in the seemingly endless number of budgets we had, I saw some light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Batt O’Keeffe was the first Minister to allocate money for technology in education in a long time. He seemed to prioritise technology, perhaps over other essentials like school buildings. For someone like me, I was beginning to get a little bit optimistic.
New classrooms were automatically given grants of €4,500 each. All schools were given an average of €1,700 per classroom to being them up to some form of technology basis. Although I don’t agree with the procurement procedures, it was something positive towards education and technology.
I don’t know whether Mary Coughlan cares about education. She infamously advised that parents could replace teachers who were going on strike, which did nothing to raise the professional profile of teachers and potentially displayed a complete lack of regard for what teachers do today.
Coughlan is about to lead a department in difficult and changing times. I imagine, like O’Keeffe, she will be asked to cut our education system. The only positive thing that O’Keeffe invested in was technology. I really hope that Minister Coughlan continues O’Keefe’s contribution to education and that technology isn’t her first target. I await her first move with baited breath.