I dtús báire, ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil áthas orm seans a fháil labhairt ar an mBille Oideachais (Leasú) 2010. Ar nós go leor daoine sa Teach seo, tá cúlra agam san earnáil oideachais. D'oibrigh mé mar phríomhoide scoile. Níl aon dabht ach go bhfuil a lán suime ag gach tuismitheoir agus múinteoir sa tír, agus an pobal i gcoitinne, sna hathruithe atá molta sa reachtaíocht seo. Cuirim fáilte roimh cuid acu, ach ní chuirim fáilte roimh cuid eile acu. Dá bhrí sin, cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhartha seo.
Under the draft legislation before the House, the vocational education committees will have a defined role in primary education. There is no doubt that the VEC sector has a honourable track record, particularly at post-primary level but also in the further and adult education sector. It has to be said that the legislation is being introduced at a time when arguments of considerable merit are being made by the Educate Together movement, which is seeking to have a role in secondary education. It is worth reflecting on those arguments during the course of the debate on this legislation.
While I recognise the merit of the VEC sector having a role in primary education, it seems logical, in the interests of diversity, parental choice and best practice in setting standards, to reflect on the merits of what Educate Together has done at primary level and to suggest, in that light, that it should be a patron, where appropriate and where required, in second level schools. That point has been well argued in several communities in my constituency of Dublin North, where many primary schools and a secondary school are under the patronage of Educate Together. Just as the Educate Together model serves the needs of people in the primary sector, it should also be allowed to serve those needs when children move to secondary level. It is appropriate to discuss this matter in the context of a Bill that is breaking new ground in the opposite direction, by allowing the VECs to become involved in primary education.
I wish to speak about an alarming aspect of the Bill. I refer to the prospect that teachers who are not fully qualified, or are not registered with the Teaching Council, will be deemed to be acceptable on a long-term basis. They should not be acceptable on any basis at a time when so many qualified teachers who are ready and available for work are unemployed. When I went to college to train to be a primary school teacher, it was a three-year course. Some years before that, it was a two-year course. It is now an onerous four-year degree course for many students, who get excellent qualifications not only in mainstream education but also in special needs education and many other areas of primary education. By employing people who have not gone through this process and qualified accordingly, certain schools are diminishing this qualification in a short-sighted manner.
When I discussed this matter with Cumann Múinteoirí Éireann — the INTO — it was indicated to me that approximately 1,000 qualified teachers are seeking employment on a day-to-day basis. I have been told by principals that it is not always possible to find teachers at short notice. That matter can be resolved. The INTO has indicated to me that an interactive website will be up and running by Christmas. It will facilitate principals and unemployed teachers who wish to make contact with each other at the shortest possible notice, which is often the reality when teachers phone in sick. Indeed, the current weather may be preventing teachers from getting to their places of work, if such schools are open. I am aware that many schools are open.
This issue requires much more reflection. I hope the points that are being made on Second Stage will inform the amendments that will be proposed on Committee Stage. I refer specifically to the need to help teachers who are looking for employment and who are qualified. We will see after Christmas whether the website I have mentioned will serve the purpose for which it is required and help us to overcome this issue. A short number of years ago, we established the Teaching Council, which was a very progressive and essential move. The council needs to be copperfastened, strengthened, developed and supported so that it can work better. I do not believe the proposal to accept unqualified teachers is in the best interests of children, of education or of the teaching profession.
I refer to patronage in so far as it relates to enrolment. I have nothing against diversity but when it militates against what I regard as the best interests of children, it has to be questioned. I refer to the first come, first served, enrolment policy in some schools, regardless of older siblings already in the school. This means that a family without a car or perhaps a single-parent family who tries to enrol a younger child in a school which an older sibling attends may be unable to enrol the younger child in the same school. Such a family is put under significant pressure — to add to what pressures and strains it may already suffer. A parent may be required to ferry, walk or cycle a child to school, then bring another child to another school. This may require one or other of the children to be late, thus creating considerable tension.
I acknowledge the principle of fairness behind this policy, that every child should be respected for his or her integrity and identity and should not be regarded as just an associate of another child by virtue of being a sibling. However, under the Constitution, the parent is the primary educator and therefore the family is the primary location or context for education. To undermine this inalienable right is an unwise development. This issue is in the hands of the patron bodies and the individual schools but the Department needs to put down a number of markers which will protect the best interests of the child in the context of the family and to keep siblings together. I make this argument based on my first-hand experience and I hope it can be considered. I look forward to hearing other views in this regard.
The regulation of school holiday is another matter which is not as contentious as the issues of enrolment, patronage or the employment of qualified teachers but it is an issue which the Garda Síochána has asked me to raise. I do so at this opportunity because it is relevant to the amendment of the education legislation. Even though it may not be a legislative matter, it is pertinent to this debate. Considerable work has been done to harmonise school holidays to serve the needs of everyone, particularly the children and their families. A certain amount of synchronisation is required so that people can combine a work life with a family life and their children's education is not upset. The mid-term break at Hallowe'en makes headlines every year with the anti-social nature, to put it at its mildest, of the Hallowe'en period. Bonfires and vandalism, theft of combustible materials are common occurrences. I have been told by teachers and gardaí that much of this could be avoided if the school mid-term break began with Hallowe'en rather than ended with it. This would seem to be a simple and logical request. I do not believe it has fallen on deaf ears but it has probably become stuck somewhere in the process between the Department and the Teaching Council. I ask that this common sense proposal be progressed.
I also ask that consideration be given to the difficulties faced by individual schools within a limited catchment area such as a large town. My home town of Balbriggan is an example. It has a number of primary schools under differing patronage but all receive applications for enrolment from the same child. The school principals work in co-operation and this provides an awareness of the practice of enrolling a child in a number of schools to ensure that the child is given a school place. Parents apply to a number of schools to ensure their child is given a place in a school.
The system at third level works well whereby enrolment is administered by a central body, the Central Applications Office. Some type of central administrative system could be used as a template for localities such as large towns where there is an issue of multiple enrolments which entails a considerable amount of pressure on schools when waiting lists do not reflect the reality of applications. A central administration of enrolments could be of benefit to both the schools and the parents in a catchment area. It would help reduce the stress on parents when looking for a school for their children. Pressure of numbers in areas such as Fingal, which is a fast-growing area, means that parents do not know whether their child has a place until the very last moment. I ask the Minister of State to consider those points.
The patronage provisions in this legislation are relevant to all schools, particularly those schools on the schools building programme list. It was quite frustrating to hear, although I know it can be explained in many cases, that money had not been drawn down while many schools are waiting for building projects. At the Donabate-Portrane Educate Together school, which consists entirely of prefabs, fuses were blowing all over the place as the staff attempted to heat the prefabs and used hot water to melt water pipes. Eventually, they had to give up as the elements beat them, and they closed the school and allowed in the workmen who had come to repair the pipes and other problems caused by the seriously cold weather. This highlights how unsatisfactory many of the school building arrangements which depend on prefabs are. There is a strong economic argument to be made for building better-insulated structures that would serve modern educational needs as well as saving money and energy. I feel quite sad about the suggestion in the report that money was not spent. The money has been allocated and will be drawn down and spent; however, it is mystifying to hear such reports.
I ask that we give priority, as we in the Green Party have endeavoured to do, to education, and not only with regard to the pupil-teacher ratio, although this is vital. We are not in a good position in the OECD and in the EU in that regard, so let us try to improve rather than languishing at the bottom just ahead of the UK. It must be noted that schools in the UK have other posts in their classrooms, so it is perhaps not comparable. To proceed with the building programme is the ultimate win-win option, because there are so many people unemployed in the construction industry at the moment. We should prioritise the building programme and ensure that schools with prefabs are improved to a standard at which they can save energy and money and provide the quality of education we all desire for our children.
