TEACHERS' UNION OF IRELAND:DELEGATES TO the Teachers' Union of Ireland conference in Tralee last night backed a call for the Government to withdraw its €100 million subvention to private fee-paying schools after the union's executive committee described the practice as "a serious indictment on our State".
TUI national executive member Gerry Quinn said it was shameful that the Government was continuing to support the practice of privatised education being publicly funded at a time when serious and damaging cutbacks were being imposed on the public education system.
Describing the practice as “clearly part of the casino capitalism which brought about the recession”, Mr Quinn said it was continuing at a time when funds for vocational schools were being cut back to 2007-2008 levels, teacher numbers are set to be reduced by 1,200 from September and a cap is being put on special needs assistants.
“This union respects the rights of parents or guardians to choose schools for their children but we are opposed to taxpayers paying for private schools – let the parents in private schools foot the bill – all of the bill,” he said, stressing the union was not opposed to support for minority-faith schools, which depend on Government assistance to survive.
Delegates also backed a motion calling on Vocational Education Committees to end their practice of re-employing retired teachers on a part-time basis given the current economic climate which has limited career openings for new entrants to teaching.
Chris Chisaide of Limerick City Schools Branch said VECs argue that it isn’t really their practice to bring back retired teachers but simply that they have difficulty filling part-time hours – and yet those part-time hours could help make a job viable for many young teachers struggling to survive.
TUI national executive member Gerry Craughwell received strong support when he challenged media reports that teachers earn €1,000 per week and pointed out that a teacher’s starting salary was €33,000 a year. Even then, this wage applied only if a teacher was on full hours. Many teachers were starting on weekly contracts of five, six, seven and 11 hours.
“The rate of pay paid to a teacher on a part-time contract is €46 an hour, not €1,000 per week and out of that €46 an hour, 22 per cent goes towards their holidays [when they are not paid]. The lie has to be exposed, there are few teachers starting off on €33,000 a year,” he said.