Good evening to all on this wet and horrid night. I am writing this from the comforts of my bed!I am getting stuck into the Sunday Times, which is my preferred choice of reading on a Sunday. Today though, I am not so happy with this paper. The front page is dominated by the scandal of the “unqualified and unvetted” sub teacher. What? I cannot believe they are only hearing about this now! This was why the Teaching Council was established 2 years ago. They were meant to regulate, vet and improve teaching as a profession. To this date, I cannot name one thing they have done for us apart from look for our votes.. However, I am open to anyone from the Teaching Council putting me straight. You know the email, drop me a mail!
Opinion
Photos from the Galway Rally
Three banners from the very successful Galway Rally. Next up is Tullamore!
So the government are going to lease computers now… d'oh!
Oh. My. God. As if this government could be any more stupid. We have spent the last eight years in schools without any funding for computer equipment. This means that any computers bought between 2001 and now have been bought by parents or sponsored by very generous companies. Most of us are still using computers that belong in museums. In all that time, the government had loads of money. They could have bought every school in Ireland 10 computers each and the bill would be less than €20 million, which is less than half the cost of storing eVoting machines or taxi fares from each department or Bertie’s makeup bill (probably). Now that they claim to have no money, they’re going to let businesses lease computers to them. That way the government get to spend millions more than if they just bought them in the first place. Anyway…here’s the article:
Great Slogans from the Protest
Seeing as Batt O’Keefe has the easiest name to pun, I was thinking of lightening the mood with some of the best slogans I witnessed at the protest. If you have found any good ones or wish to add any more, please do. Fled to China like Batt out of Our Hell (main picture) Batt … Read more
I was there – cold, wet and angry!
It was cold. It was very wet. Even so, 12,000 people stood on Molesworth Street and gave a clear signal to the government that the budget cuts to education were wrong. I stood around amongst the sea of slogans – some of which were brilliant, (Battman Robin our kids, Taoiseach Leave our Kids Alone, All in all Batt’s just another brick in the Dáil, Off to China like a Batt our of Our hell, etc.) There were about a dozen speakers most of who didn’t speak loudly enough, which was a pity. To be honest and I don’t feel right saying this… I thought the Sinn Féin TD was the best of the lot. There were a lot of great speakers and the ones who called a chorus of cheers and boos kept us going as the rain poured down. After an hour and a half, it was over.
Why are you protesting?
I thought I’d ask myself that question. I’ve been listening to all the experts on the radio over the last week or so and have attended the INTO meetings but I’m not really sure that they are focussing on the right thing. They all seem to be harping on about class sizes. Now before I continue, I think that this is a key issue and I agree that class size is an important issue.
What happened in the budget?
According to the INTO’s web site, the government have made the following cuts. The INTO have christened it: “The dirty dozen.” Fianna Gael decided that there were 32 cuts to education in the budget. Next Wednesday, during mid-term break, a big rally protest will be held outside the Dáil. I shall be there, hopefully with a banner in hand! Read on to see “The Dirty Dozen Education Cuts”
Protest – Wednesday 29th October, 6:30pm, Leinster House
Due to the government’s baffling idea that it would be a good thing to punish schoolchildren in this year’s budget, a protest has been arranged by the INTO at 6:30pm next Wednesday. The protest coincides with a motion that has been proposed by the Labour Party to reverse the cuts made in the budget affecting … Read more