Outcry as teacher unions threaten to strike over 'unacceptable' proposals
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TEACHER unions have warned of industrial action to resist any attempt to implement the cuts proposed in the Bord Snip report.
The JMB, the body representing secondary school managers said "all schools will suffer greatly as a result of these unacceptable recommendations".
JMB general secretary Ferdia Kelly said they had very serious concerns about the future of the sector in the wake of the report.
He said there were particular concerns regarding the impact of the proposal for a 10pc cut in the capitation grant for schools, an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio, reduced supports for special needs and newcomer pupils and increased workload for school management.
Irish Primary Principals Network director Sean Cottrell said primary education was being shredded by Bord Snip.
"Cutbacks on this scale will put Irish primary education back decades," according to Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Carr. The INTO and the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) said that any attempt to implement the report's proposals would be resisted by industrial action.
TUI deputy general secretary Annette Dolan said "the attacks outlined in this report would represent an education disaster and light a short fuse on a social timebomb".
Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) general secretary John White said the education service had never faced such a serious threat as that posed by the publication of the report, which showed "no understanding of the role of education, the social objectives of education and the challenges faced by schools today".
The Irish Vocational education Association general secretary, Michael Moriarty, expressed disappointment at the proposal to abandon the county-based VEC structure and dismay at the recommendation to reduce school grants.
Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) general secretary Mike Jennings said it was "simply crazy" to suggest cutting 2,000 jobs at third-level while the attack on teacher training colleges was one of the "most myopic proposals in higher education history".
