National Parents Council conference: The INTO has been accused by the main parents' representative group of hiding behind the publication of whole school evaluation reports rather than tackling the serious problem of under-performing teachers
At the National Parents Council annual conference, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin was also urged to continue with her plans to publish whole school evaluation (WSE) reports despite the INTO's decision last week to withdraw co-operation.
Fionnuala Kilfeather, chief executive of the National Parents Council (NPC), said principals should be regularly monitoring performances by teachers so that the whole school evaluation report does not become the mechanism for identifying inadequate teaching.
"You wouldn't think from all of this that most schools and teachers are doing a good job; you would think there is something to hide and that there are problems," Ms Kilfeather said. "These would be hidden rather than tackled."
In her address to delegates representing county branches nationwide, Ms Kilfeather said processes for monitoring teachers were "unacceptably weak" because the WSE only affected a school every five or six years. Instead, undertaking regular monitoring and providing comparative data was necessary.
"It is ethically and educationally unacceptable that such provision is being blocked by recourse to concern about league tables."
While supportive of the Minister for Education's stance on the publication of inspection reports, the council was critical of her comments in The Irish Times last week in which she committed to changing section 29 of the Education Act.
The NPC insisted there should be no change to the current system whereby parents or young people over 18 could appeal against non-admittance to suspension or expulsion from schools.
Keynote speaker at the three-day event Fergus Finlay, chief executive of Barnardo's, said that Ms Hanafin's insight on the "cash-rich, time-poor" parents had recognised the increasing challenges faced by the child of the 21st century.
However, he said there needed to be an examination of conscience about Government policy, because it was highly probable that the family had become second to a commitment to a growing economy. "It is time we began to debate seriously the possibility of putting the child first in everything we do."