An education policy that supports teachers is good for everybody.

Key to educational excellence is the recognition that teaching is more than just a job. If the Government pays teachers a salary that reflects their qualifications and their contribution to society, while providing decent facilities, sensible legal guidelines and opportunities for career development, everyone gains.

Professional support for teachers
For all the talk about ‘reflective practitioners’, when teachers in Ireland go back to college, they pay for it themselves. While the current in-service days are helpful, I feel that, in addition, teachers ought to receive time dedicated to further study. Just as it is standard practice in the private sector for employees to be sponsored to do courses such as MBAs, so teachers deserve the opportunity to continually upskill through their careers. I strongly support paid sabbatical leave for teachers as a means to promote lifelong training. Though some schemes do now exist, they remain under resourced and available to only a small number of those who would benefit.

Schools and technology
All students should be able to avail of a very high standard of technological training and this requires a huge injection of funding for equipment and training. The day when one computer is available per class must end. Teachers must be given the appropriate equipment and no longer be relying on the old fashioned blackboard. Many schools are now more low-tech than the homes of the students which attend them. Greater investment is needed so that children are educated for the 21st century world.

Currently there is an average of one computer for every 10 children at second level. The money allocated under the National Development Plan for information and communications technology in schools amounts to an average of €46 per pupil per year. This figure must be trebled so that Irish schools can reach the OECD average of one computer for every 5 students.

To ensure meaningful engagement between technology and the curriculum, schools should move toward the delivery of one core subject using computers and related technology. The necessary resources should be provided to enable schools to achieve this.

From junior infants upwards, there is a need to use new technology in the delivery of material on the curriculum. Junior infant classrooms should be supplied with one computer for every three children.

At the same time, teachers should be afforded greater discretion in determining how new technologies are used, as recent research has shown the limitations of a blanket approach towards computers in the classroom.

Capital investment
The present capitation grant for primary schools needs to be doubled and a massive building programme is necessary.

Small schools are struggling under the current capitation arrangements. Extra funding is needed to make up for the disadvantage of having fewer numbers in large premises which are as expensive to maintain as school buildings with larger populations.

I will support equalisation of funding across the different sectors at secondary level. Currently voluntary secondary schools are underfunded by, on average, €108 per pupil per annum, compared with other schools at second level. This is not equitable.

Consideration should be given to exempting schools from the payment of VAT on utility and security bills, equipment etc.

Management
The management of schools today has become very difficult for Principals and Deputy Principals. They have to deal with a large staff, students, ancillary staff, the parent body, the DES, other educational bodies and at the same time ensure that all recent relevant legislation is observed. Assistant Principals and Special Duty Teachers are not given time to assist with the work of managing the school because they have a full timetable of teaching. This can be readily addressed by freeing these teachers to spend more time actually assisting the Principal. An efficient use of resources would be to provide adminsitrative support to schools, ensuring that necessary paperwork is completely more speedily, freeing teachers for their primary responsibilities. Some schools already have such systems but all could benefit.

School Disruption
Disruption by some students is a major problem in some schools. A teacher shouldn’t have to be a lawyer to prevent bullying and intimidation in school.

The recent amendment to Section 29 of the Education Act is welcome and will hopefully move the balance towards supporting those who wish to learn while at school.

More support is needed for the National Behaviour Support Service introduced last year, which is currently working with just 50 schools.

It is important to see pupil-teacher ratios as a vital issue in reducing disruption. Research has shown that larger class sizes are associated with higher levels of disruption and poor behaviour in schools. 

There is scope for a mechanism to bring together those with responsibility for the child: - parents, those involved with childcare and extra-curricular activity, and the child’s parish where applicable, to help ensure that any problems are addressed across the span of a child’s daily routine and not simply within school hours.

Psychological Supports
While there have been some improvements in provisions made for pupils with special needs there remains a great need for a well staffed psychological service for schools to be rolled out as soon as possible. The National Educational Psychological Service is currently unavailable to 40% of primary school students and to almost a quarter of post primary pupils. This gap must be closed rapidly and this requires that more teachers are trained in this area.

Many schools are currently faced with a long waiting list of children who are waiting for psychological assessments and this can significantly delay supports that are needed for those children. There is also a problem relating to children who have emotional or behavioural difficulties - in brief, these children, once assessed by NEPS, may often have to go on to another long waiting list to access clinical services - this is difficult for the child, distressing for the parents and problematic for staff and other pupils in the schools.

We should learn from the fact that, in many cases where adults and teenagers have acted with tragic consequences for themselves and others, their teachers were aware of their difficulties and were concerned about them while at school.

More training is needed for teachers in the area of Special Education Needs, the more so since Government policy aims at integrating students with special needs.

Class Sizes
This is a priority issue on which I intend to raise my voice if elected to Seanad Éireann. We’ve been demanding action on class sizes for years now. It is incredible that after a period of unprecedented economic success that we continue to have the second highest class sizes in Europe. A quarter of primary school children are in classes greater than 30 and less than 15% are in classes under 20! Class sizes should be counted fairly, to ensure that qualified teachers who are spending time away from classrooms are not included in official statistics to allow a misleading picture of the true ratios. Nor can the issue simply be understood as one of staffing costs – often the lack of available or adequate classrooms is severely limiting.

Values
Critical to the performance of our schools is the educational philosophy which underpins them. Parents must have the right to choose schools which reflect their ethos and values, and which prioritise service to the community as highly as individual achievement.

Within schools, boards of management should be encouraged to draw up mission statements, free from management speak, but stating simply the core values sustaining the contributions of all involved at every level of the school. Such non-binding mission statements would be a valuable touchstone in times of decision making.

Educational Access
As a product of the opening of Irish higher education in the last 20 years, I am strongly committed to ensuring a significant increase in participation at third level of those who for social and economic reasons have not their full educational potential.

Irish economic growth has been heavily supported by a well-educated population. Our society can only gain by promoting higher educational opportunities in areas with low participation rates.

If elected to Seanad Eireann, one of my priorities will be to further the development of higher education as well as to argue for continuous acceptance of its importance to Irish society.

Access equity also means a second chance for those who missed out on educational opportunities the first time around. Lifelong learning should be remembered when educational access policy is being decided.

Investment in Third-Level Education
Higher education is rapidly changing around the world. Traditional academic cultures and relationships are being challenged, bringing new social dynamics to higher education systems and increasing diversity and differentiation within and between institutions.
If elected to Seanad Eireann, I will act as an advocate for the interests of the NUI and its graduates by promoting our future growth and prosperity through increased investment now in Ireland’s knowledge, skills and innovation capacity.

Where appropriate, institutions should be allowed the freedom to agree mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders in the wider community, whether foundations, community association, firms, private philanthropists, or religious groups. While the State will remain the primary funder of third-level education, institutions should be supported in exploring additional revenue streams that come with the benefit of more deeply embedding third level-learning in the community.

Our university sector should not regard the uptake by students of particular courses as the sole criterion by which the viability of such courses is judged. They should continue to maintain courses and fields of study where they are of particular national and cultural significance.