THE under funding of the primary school system has been described as "disgraceful" by the President of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, Mr Liam McCloskey. In his presidential address to the 129th INTO Annual Congress in Killarney last night, Mr McCloskey said that the union would campaign nationally throughout the forthcoming general election to achieve proper funding for the sector.
"The continuing under funding of primary education presents a challenging reminder to us, this generation of teachers, that we too must continually demand the provision of equity and equality of treatment at primary level."
He said "disgraceful anomalies" still existed in the funding system, since primary schoolchildren only had a capitation grant of £45 per pupil while pupils at second level received a grant of £177.
"It is a scandal that is crying out for immediate Government action," he told delegates. "Equip our schools properly and fairly and we will continue to deliver a high quality education service to meet the needs of a rapidly changing society." Mr McCloskey said the union would be seeking proper funding for the sector, especially in the context of the Education Bill and the proposed Regional Education Boards.
He also reiterated the union's opposition to Section 37 (I) of the Employment Equality Bill, which allows religious run institutions to discriminate in employment on religious grounds. He said that the vast majority of teachers were supportive of the religious ethos of their schools and it was teachers who shouldered the burden of passing on that ethos.
"But teachers are entitled, and must always remain entitled, to the same freedom to organise their private lives and retain their beliefs as the parents of the pupils whom they teach," said Mr McCloskey. "Teachers who support the ethos of the school should have the full support of the law in their private lives. Any attempt to discriminate against teachers because of their private lives will be vehemently resisted by all the resources at the disposal of this organisation.
Mr McCloskey highlighted a number of areas where he believed urgent progress was required. He described attempts by the Department of Finance to reduce the teaching force as "an unwarranted attack on primary education" at a time when Ireland continued to have one of the highest pupil/ teacher ratios in the European Union and he welcomed the Minister for Education's retention of the demographic dividend for a further year.
Mr McCloskey said that, rather than reducing teacher numbers, teachers should be diverted into special educational services in order to meet the needs of children with disabilities. He told delegates that 900 schools still did not have access to a remedial service. He also called on the Minister for Education to extend the Teacher Counsellor service, which currently operates in 27 schools and caters for the needs of children with social and emotional problems.
On the integration of pupils with special needs, Mr McCloskey said that teachers were sympathetic but Ireland was unique in trying to integrate children with disabilities without providing adequate support services.
He called for the appointment of resource teachers and a "realistic" weighting system for pupils with special needs.
Mr McCloskey was also critical of the provisions for the education of travellers, particularly the appointment of only three teachers of travellers in 1996, and said that positive discrimination was necessary to provide access for travellers.
He described the psychological service for primary education as being "in serious crisis". An independent service was needed so that psychologists could work alongside teachers and he deplored the ratio of 7 000 pupils to one psychologist.
On behalf of the INTO, he called for the provision of a second qualified teacher for every school with a minimum of IS pupils and the appointment of a suitably qualified classroom assistant for schools with fewer than 15 pupils.
The revision of the new primary school curriculum by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is expected to be complete by June 1997. Mr McCloskey said the new curriculum could not be "foisted on schools with undue haste", nor could it be "implemented overnight". He warned that proper in service training during schooltime was required on every aspect of, the curriculum, amounting to at least one week's in service training during the school year for the next four years.