The status of the teaching profession in Irish society has been undermined as the State has become more prosperous, a leading school manager said yesterday.
Mr Michael Moriarty, general secretary of the Irish Vocational Education Association, said there was an urgent need to examine the role and function of the profession.
"The high esteem which society placed on our teaching profession in past decades is being increasingly and regrettably eroded, with the emphasis shifting to an enhanced esteem of the commercial sector. This is one of the key negative outcomes of the Celtic Tiger," he said.
Mr Moriarty, one of the most influential figures in education, said he was looking to the forthcoming commission on teaching to chart a way forward for a profession coming to terms with many difficulties. We were, he said, at a defining moment in Irish education, when many of the old certainties were being swept away.
He also paid tribute to school principals who, he said, were routinely "thrown in at the deep end without training to equip them for a plethora of tasks as manager, educationalist and facilitator".
On supervision, Mr Moriarty said continuation of the dispute into the new school year would be "catastrophic" for the education sector.
In his address the association's president, Mr Brendan Griffin, signalled that the ASTI should compromise in its dispute, but he also urged the Government to re-engage in negotiations "with a view to restoring harmony in school".
Teachers, he said, played a vital role in our students' lives, not only as educationalists, but also as mentors. "Teachers must lead by example, and the ability to compromise is an important value in a civilised society," he said.
Mr Griffin also warned of the increase in poverty in the State, saying: "In modern Ireland the ranks of the underclass have swelled dramatically, an early warning sign of a fragmenting society . . . Ireland is now at a cultural crossroads."
He called on the Government to "dedicate enhanced funding and resources to VECs to facilitate the expansion of our non-mainstream courses, with the goal of enhancing educational services and opportunities for the most needy citizens of the State, those unable to benefit from our new economic prosperity, the underclass".
The Irish Vocational Education Association, which held its annual conference in Cavan this week, is celebrating its centenary. In his address to conference, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, paid tribute to the association's "vision and work".