Five in the running for secretary general:Five candidates remain in the hunt for the secretary general post in the Department of Education. But curiously there is no real front runner.
If there is a favourite for the post it is probably assistant secretary Seán Ó Foghlú who is much liked by Ruairí Quinn.
The other candidates still in contention are Tom Boland, chief executive of the Higher Education Authority; Anne Looney, head of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment; Dermot Mulligan, department assistant secretary and ex-FÁS senior official; and Deirdre O’Keeffe, a former senior figure in the Department of Education, now assistant secretary in the Department of Justice.
The top-level appointments group will shortlist three candidates but the final decision will be made by Quinn within the next fortnight.
There’s only One Direction
What’s the number one hot topic in girls’ second-level schools? Our reporter in the trenches says One Direction is the biggest thing in the classroom since The Bay City Rollers way back in the 1970s.
Says one teacher: “In all my years of teaching I have never seen anything like it. They seem to be the only subject of debate. It’s a phenomenon. ’’
Where is the IDA?
We all want more students to take science and tech subjects at third level. So how come the IDA is so low-profile on this key issue?
The authority could have a real influence on students and parents – if it were more vocal. Instead, it gets it all wrong. On Thursday last, IDA boss Barry O’Leary extolled the virtues of a career in science and technology to those who will complete their CAO application “in the coming days.’’ Only one problem: the vast majority of students submitted their CAO choices 10 days ago on January 20th; the final day for discounted applications. It all underlines how the IDA needs to raise its game in the education space.
The good news? The excellent Emmet Oliver has just been appointed as director of communications. A former deputy business editor at the Irish Independent, Oliver was also education correspondent with this newspaper.
Quinn puts boot into teacher training
Ruairí Quinn was in fine form during last week’s Oireachtas Committee on Education .
But he couldn’t resist a jab or two for one of his favourite targets – the teacher training colleges. Outlining new measures to improve literacy, he noted a critical Teaching Council report on Mary Immaculate College in Limerick where the training course was deemed to be too academic for future primary teachers.
Quinn noted that while the study of the War of the Roses might engage history students, “I’m not to sure it is that relevant for kids in senior infants!’’ He was robust in his defence of Hibernia College, the online provider. Asked if it was the only private provider, he stressed how the Catholic training colleges were not public as they are controlled by the church, despite all that State funding. There has been speculation that Quinn would like to close some of the teacher training colleges which cost the exchequer a small fortune. There could be some truth in that !
Presidential address
What are we to make of President Higgins’s address last week? He called for universities to be allowed the breathing space to reimagine our future and challenge the dominant pro-market ideology? Some academics were quick to see it as a critique of those university presidents – like UCD’s Hugh Brady – who support a “pro-business’’ agenda . It was interesting and provocative. And it’s good to see the President contributing to the education debate. More please!
