An insider's guide to education
• What's happening at the INTO? Who knows? After years during which the union appeared to be dominating the education agenda, things at Parnell Square have become very quiet of late. Maybe it has something to do with Joe O'Toole's imminent departure. Or is new boss John Carr saving himself for the PJ (Post-Joe) era? Whatever, expect the INTO to come out fighting after Sean Cottrell and the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) turn up the heat at their conference in Galway this week (see page 2). The IPPN like to put the boot into Joe O'Toole and it is no surprise that the Senator will not be gracing the proceedings. As Mike Tyson once said: "This could get ugly!"
• Tremors from the Skilbeck report continue to dominate the groves of academe, with college boffins worried that it could spell the end of their salad days. The anti-Skilbeck campaign is now in full flight with letters to the IT and rafts of anonymous correspondence to TP!
The thrust of the correspondence is that Skilbeck has no expertise in the third-level sector. It is nonsense of course, but with the university heads rowing in behind Skilbeck's findings, academics are feeling unusually jumpy these days.
• Embarrassing moment on Eamonn Dunphy's radio programme, The Last Word, last week when Eamo asked Michael Noonan who is Fine Gael's education spokesman? After what seemed like an eternity, Michael confirmed that Michael Creed is indeed the FG education guru. Michael is a decent and popular guy, but he is yet to make his mark in the portfolio. He has buckets of potential, but rarely gets an opportunity to shine. Come on Mr Noonan, let him off the leash!
• UCD News, the gushing official newsletter of TP's favourite university, is hardly renowned for its critical faculties. No coverage of the Santry or Norton affairs and no inkling that anything is less than wonderful out in the windy Belfield campus. Headline of the week has to be on a story detailing the annual report from president Art Cosgrove - "President's report highlights positive developments"... zzzzz.
• Who should turn up at the teachers' recent hearing on benchmarking but TP's old friend Eddie Conlon. Eddie, scourge of the partnership types who run the TUI, was enlisted to help out. TP hears it was a brilliant performance as Eddie persuasively made the case for a hefty salary increase.
The question now is will Eddie back the report of the benchmarking body? Don't bet on it!
Got any education gossip? You can e-mail TP at teacherspet@irish-times.ie
