An insider's guide to education
• The Noel Dempsey Roadshow, which kicks off at the Spa Hotel, Dublin, tonight, represents a huge political gamble. Not all of his senior officials are convinced about the wisdom of the initiative, but Noel Dempsey, as ever, has a different take on it.
He has an obligation, he maintains, to do the right thing and to display some leadership.
The stakes are enormous for both sides. A "Yes" vote for the supervision deal would kill off the ASTI hard-liners and remove a huge stone in the road. But a "No" vote would allow the hard-liners the chance to snatch victory from the jaws of a humiliating defeat.
Dempsey's accomplished performance on Morning Ireland last week has given his campaign a real fillip. There is now growing confidence within the Department and within some sections of the ASTI leadership (i.e. the moderate wing) that teachers will back the €38 per hour deal.
They might be right. But don't count your chickens.
• Another mid-term... another week of inconvenience and hassle for parents as they juggle, with different kids in different schools, and different weeks on holiday. One parent told us that her three children, who are in three schools, all have mid-term breaks at different times. All of this means that the family cannot plan that well-earned break. And new child- minding arrangements must also be put in place.
It is a crazy situation which Noel Dempsey should tackle head on. In the year 2003 is it unreasonable to ask all schools to take their mid-term breaks at the same time?
No we don't think so.
• Great news at the TUI, where the former president, John MacGabhann, is expected to be appointed a press officer. MacGabhann is, perhaps, the most exciting newcomer on the Irish education scene. He is thoughtful, well-informed and very articulate.
Congrats also to Brian Fleming, who is taking up media relations duties with the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals. The NAPD continues to punch well below its weight in media terms even though it represents almost all secondary principals. For Mary McGlynn - the ultra cautious boss of the NAPD. The appointment of someone as accomplished as Fleming shows clear intent to change things.
• We hear of some fury in ASTI about the Marian Finucane Show when not one but three opponents of the supervision deal were given free rein. ASTI moderates complain that this was a strange piece of editorial balance when two-thirds of teachers had actually backed the deal.
This is all a bit unfair to Marian, whose probing interview with former ASTI president Bernadine O'Sullivan last year is rightly regarded as a broadcasting classic.
• What is to be done about the FOI? Government departments are doing their best to frustrate the free flow of information - and now UCD is getting in on the act.
The college will still not release information about "Dr" Gary Santry, who left Ireland in a hurry after his bogus academic credentials were exposed.
The college says it wants to protect personal information. Translation: Let's not expose the people responsible for this embarrassing gaffe.
• Got any education gossip? You can e-mail us in complete confidence at teacherspet@irish-times.ie
