Give Kids a Chance urges teachers’ union ahead of Budget

HUNDREDS of parents, teachers, trade union officials and public representatives met in Galway on Monday to discuss the cuts affecting education and those expected in next week’s Budget.
The conference, titled Give Kids a Chance, was organised by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation as part of the series of Schools Week events that are currently being held across the country.
The conference was addressed by Joe Killeen, local Central Executive Committee representative and principal of Lough Cutra National School, who warned of the perils of increasing pupil numbers (an additional 25,900 by 2014) while there is a lack of teachers.
Mr Killeen emphasised the European average class size is 20 pupils per teacher, while Irish pupils are in classes averaging 24.2 pupils or 20% higher than their European counterparts. He outlined the cuts that have been implemented to date including cuts in resource teaching hours, reduction in English as additional language teachers, the end of the rural co-ordinators’ scheme, the reductions in the number of resource teachers for Travellers, the end of the visiting teachers for Travellers as the capping of the number of special needs assistants.
Noel Ward, deputy president and treasurer of the INTO, spoke on the issue of austerity and its perception in the public consciousness as well as alternatives and how education could provide a boost in the jobs sector. Máire Ní Chuinneagain, former INTO president, spoke about the INTO’s ongoing campaigns and how parents can become involved. John McLoughlin, a principal teacher, from Boyle in County Roscommon served as chairman for the public debates which followed.
Responses were given by the political representatives present, including Fianna Fáil deputies Michael Kitt and former minster Eamon Ó Cuív as well as Labour TD Derek Nolan. Mr Nolan undertook to convey in the strongest terms the opposition to the proposed cuts to the Minister of Education Ruairi Quinn.
Following these presentations, an open participation forum followed in which teachers and parents were quick to make known their anger to the political representatives, with the plight of special needs children and their parents being a particularly sore point. Parents spoke passionately, outlining how the cuts have affected their families. Many expressed particular concern as to how the cuts might adversely affect their children’s chances in the future. A large number of people drew attention to the effect that cuts are having in the education being offered to children.
Many parents called for more media attention for their concerns, while others asserted the views of economists were the only views being give credence at the moment with scant mention of the social consequences of the policies being put forward.
A recurring issue was that of changes to the pupil/teacher ratio. Mr Killeen explained the effect of the pupil/teacher ratio, widely conceived to be simply the addition of another child to a teacher’s class, is a much more complicated issue due to class sizes, and that this in some instances may see children studying in classes of 30 or 40 pupils to one teacher.
Speakers also noted that Ireland already has the second-highest pupil/teacher ratio in the OECD, after the UK, where support staffs are much more widespread and where education is splintered into two systems.
With such facts and figures weighing heavily on their minds, parents and teachers asked the union representatives for a plan ,which might lessen the cuts being proposed. 
Máire Ní Chuinnegain urged people to lobby their TDs and to participate in the ongoing postcard campaign being organised by the INTO. She mentioned the in- school meetings being organised up and down the country at present and encouraged all present to redouble their efforts to inform their school population and local representatives of the damage being done to education through all the cutbacks. She pointed to the previous success of such lobbying and called on all parents, teachers and concerned persons to make a deluge of postcards into TDs’ constituency offices.
“This was a great opportunity for parents to air their concerns. The meeting was a good collaboration between parents and teachers, presenting a united front and calling on the Government not to inflict further damage on education. I think it would definitely be beneficial to hold more meetings in this line to allow parents have their say on their children’s education and future of the education system in general,” Mr Killeen concluded.