An insider's guide to education

TP expects there to be skin and hair flying in this year's Seanad elections. These election are normally the political equivalent of watching paint dry, but the presence of three prominent teachers this time out at least gives us educationalists something to watch. The three are Joe O'Toole, the king of the soundbite, Bernadine O'Sullivan, the queen of the ASTI, and Pierce Purcell, a former ASTI president and trustee of the union. They are all running for the NUI panel. O'Toole is most people's favourite to win, but, by championing the cause of public sector workers, O'Sullivan could be in with a serious chance. Adding even more spice to the battle, O'Sullivan and Purcell are deadly opponents. Expect the decibel levels to rise over the next few months.

There has not been a peep out of the Department about this new body to run the exams system. TP takes it that it will not be up and running this year, but maybe it will not be up and running for many years. Department officials must have been following the travails of the British exams board, Edexcel, in the papers last week. Giving out the wrong exam papers, asking students to answer literally impossible questions and giving out the wrong marks are just some of the sins being laid at Edexcel's door. How confident are the officials that our new exams board will not drop the ball in similarly clumsy fashion?

Next month sees the third gathering of primary school principals in Galway under the banner of the IPPN, headed up by Sean Cottrell. Last year's shindig was a great event, but TP was taken aback at the level of hostility displayed towards Joe O'Toole and his colleagues in the INTO. It seemed that any speaker who had a crack at the INTO was guaranteed an ovation. Since then the INTO has met with Cottrell and his upstart movement, to eh... put them right on a few things. It will be interesting to see if the principals are prepared to have another go this year?

You can almost smell it. The election is in the air. Already Ministers Woods and O'Dea are beginning to wind down and preparing to hit the hustings. Will they get a decent send off before they finish up? Well, the shrewd man from Limerick is already being missed by adult education enthusiasts. At a recent press conference, TP was surprised to hear almost tearful pleadings from Aontas, NALA and others to get Willie to come back as adult education tsar after the next election. TP thinks Willie might have his eye on a more senior post if Bertie and crew get back in.

E-mail TP at teacherspet@irish-times.ie