www.tui.ieprepared to stand idly by and allow others toevade their responsibilities.We urgently need an increase in the numberof education psychologists from the presentfi gure of 122 to a minimum of 200 to ensurethat all children are given the assessment theyrequire particularly at the point of entry tosecond level schools.Further EducationWe have a burgeoning Further Educationsector in our Union. Teachers in thisarea built the system themselves anddeveloped the system themselves but didso without adequate resources and withina system which clearly was not designedfor their needs or cater for the needs ofFurther Education.The report commissioned by the Departmentof Education and Science from McIverConsultants charts the way forward in thisarea. That report was accepted in principleby the Department of Education and Science.It is high time that it was implemented. Ourefforts to ensure that the McIver Reportis implemented are set out in the AnnualReport. We are determined to have thisreport implemented and will be depending onyou, our members, to take whatever actionsare necessary to have this achieved.Whole School EvaluationsInspection of teachers has always been atouchy subject for teachers. The decisionof the Minister to publish Whole SchoolEvaluations, while stopping short of theiniquitous league tables, came as a surprise tous. Let me say that we are accountable to thestate for our performance. There is a balanceof rights between those of a teacher and theright of the public to information.We have had extensive discussions with theDepartment on these matters, substantiallyamending the original proposals. We are,at present, seeking an independent appealprocess for teachers and schools where theyare unhappy with the outcome of inspections.When this is achieved, together with otherreforms, I believe we will have struck areasonable balance of rights between the parties.Teacher UnityThe more I look at the situation themore I become convinced that greaterstructured co-operation between theteachers unions is necessary to provide thenest possible service to you the members,allow for avoidance of duplication, economiesof scale and, most importantly, a strongervoice for teachers.I cannot envisage in the longer term thatthe existence of three unions each coveringessentially the same issues is in anyone’sinterest. Let us begin to meaningfullyexplore this issue now for the greatergood of all teachers.<strong>TUI</strong> NEWS11
www.tui.ieLack of EducationalPsychologists‘A Grave Injustice’Support Services in Six Second LevelPublic Sector Schools, a study carried outby Pat Naughton PhD for the EducationDepartment, UCC was officially launched atthe Cork Education Support Centre on <strong>May</strong> 8 th .The report, some details of which hadpreviously been presented to the media at<strong>TUI</strong> Congress, was jointly funded by theunion and the <strong>TUI</strong> Credit Union.<strong>TUI</strong> Vice President Tim O’ Mearaintroduced the speakers and thanked the <strong>TUI</strong>Credit Union for their valuable contributionto the project, which examined satisfactionwith the various supports available to sixsecond level schools in the Cork area.Tom Mullins, Head of the EducationDepartment, UCC stated that it was aprivilege to be associated with Pat Naughton,and congratulated him on the quality ofwork. He highlighted the co-operationbetween the <strong>TUI</strong> and UCC and stressedthat further such initiatives should beexplored in the future, with “public serviceeducation a collaborative adventure”between the various partners.John MacGabhann, Education &Research Officer, <strong>TUI</strong> said that there isa clear and increasing need for research thatis focussed upon the operational realitiesof schools and that co-operation betweenteacher unions and higher educationinstitutions represents a logical and mutuallybeneficial way of meeting that need. It wasboth “opportune and appropriate” that<strong>TUI</strong> should collaborate with the educationDepartment of a Higher Education institutionsuch as UCC.He stressed the objective nature of theresearch. “We asked for research; wedidn’t present views and ask for researchto support those views. The only <strong>TUI</strong>thumbprint on this report is in theacknowledgement of funding sources”.The report had some “reassuring findings”,Mr MacGabhann stated. “Schools are doinga remarkably good job on remarkably poorresources and are extraordinarily costeffective in this regard.” “The study doesPICTURED AT LAUNCH OF SUPPORT SERVICES STUDY L-R: PAT CONWAY, TOM MULLINS, FERGAL MCCARTHY, JUDY O’CONNOR, RITA CONWAY, PAT NAUGHTON, TOM HUGHES, JOHN MACGABHANNnot make a comparison between the schoolsinvolved; each is discretely case-studied. Itis noticeable that all know their communityvery well and seek to serve the needs ofall the children of that community. Thiscontrasts with some schools which, althoughpublicly funded, have little or no commitmentto the communities in which they are locatedand cynically contrive not to enrol all thechildren of those communities. By contrast,each school in the study typically sees itself asan organic and extremely important lung inits own community.”All six schools identified parents as aprimary resource and stressed the absoluteimportance of a close, intimate relationshipbetween the parents and the school as ameans of enhancing student participationand attainment. The survey found that“curricular supports that attend to thecentral teaching and learning function ofthe school” such as the Junior CertificateSchools Programme (JCSP) or LeavingCertificate Applied (LCA) were the supportsthat registered the highest satisfaction ratingamong the schools. The Home SchoolCommunity Liaison Scheme (HSCLS) wasidentified as a key support which enhancedboth teaching and learning.The difficulty of accessing psychologicalassessments was highlighted as the singlemost serious deficit in the existing systemof supports. The National EducationPsychological Service (NEPS), is chronicallyunderstaffed. The union has identified aneed for a NEPS complement of at least200 psychologists – currently there areonly 122. In a situation of rapidly increasingenrolment of children with special educationalneeds, the (government) embargo onrecruitment of adequate numbers ofeducational psychologists and other publicservice specialists was described by JohnMacGabhann as “not alone bad but madalso. This policy damages children and mustbe rescinded. Assessments are the releasetrigger for resources for children withspecial educational needs. If there are noassessments, there are no resources, and thestudent and school suffer.” “The quality andswiftness of response of the service needsto be very greatly improved. Students can’twait six months or a year for the release ofresources. This is a grave injustice. We’ll begoing back to the Minister with these findingsand demanding immediate enhancementof NEPS. The students affected are thoseon the very margins in terms of accessingthe curriculum.” Mr MacGabhann thankedthe principals and other staff who gave sogenerously of their time and looked forwardto further collaboration with UCC.Pat Naughton presented a resumé of thestudy’s findings. Among the main deficienciesin service highlighted were the obvious delaysin securing psychological assessments forstudents, the ending of certain supports atJunior Certificate level and the sparse levelsof in-service available in the area. Oneof the major challenges remaining is theamelioration of negative attitudes towardseducation that are sometimes evident,especially in areas of acutesocio-economic disadvantage.Dr Naughton concluded that schools alonecannot compensate for social inequalities,and warned that as the gap in society widens,the effect of inadequate supports is furtherexacerbated. A coherent, multi-facetedand multi-agency approach – to whichschools would contribute – is needed if thesocietal inequalities that incubate educationaldisadvantage are to be vigorously tackled.The full study is accessible from <strong>TUI</strong>’s websiteww.tui.ie12 <strong>TUI</strong> NEWS
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