Sir, - It is difficult to have sympathy for the "OTT" attitudes of ASTI.
Let us not forget the thousands of early school leavers who were disillusioned and let down by the system and the attitudes within it.
Let us not forget the many qualified education professionals who work outside the rigidly controlled ASTI system.
Let us not forget the education professionals who work within disadvantaged, rehabilitative and community education, training and development centres and systems.
Many left their secondaryschool existence of short hours, mid-terms, long holidays, free classes and extra qualification allowances with its routine and predicability. Instead they opted for the real world of challenge, stress, curriculum development, assessment, individual programme planning, staff shortages, funding shortages and long hours in face-to-face real life situations amid the realities of multidisciplinary membership.
To ASTI I say: You represent members of a wonderful profession. Many do terrific work and are dedicated to their students. So why are Ireland's brightest and best for the year 2001 to have their futures and examinations jeopardised through no fault of their own? Of course negotiate for more money and a better deal for your members, but also look at your whole package, count your blessings and stop barricading yourselves into an ivory tower.
Sacrificing the youth of 2001 will not help the much-maligned profile of the education profession. The ever increasing partnerships between education and the world of work make your present structures out of sync and rather outmoded compared with the rest of the workforce, other disciplines and professions.
Education is much bigger than the classroom, and this dispute may well move it out of the ASTI classroom into the many effective, challenging, realistic and alternative venues and services on offer. - Yours, etc.,
Anne McCarthy, B.A., H.Dip.Ed., M.Sc., Sandymount, Dublin 4.