This article is from page 10 of the 2008-03-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THE thought of taking on a group of five- to 12-year-olds every day, if only for a few hours, would put the fear of God into many a brave soul, while representing the masses as the leader of a workers’ union would bring most of us out in a cold sweat.
Declan Kelleher has taken on both roles in his life, and after more than 35 years involved still speaks about both with an enthusiasm that is contagious. And the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) will be hoping that his enthusiasm turns into an epidemic as it tries to encour- age new members into the union this year.
The Kilnaboy native will have this task, with many more, thrust upon him tomorrow when he takes over as the union’s president for the next year. The Corofin NS principal is well known for his work with the un- ion in the county, which he maintains could not be achieved without the support of his wife, family, teaching staff and management.
This commitment will now see him at the head of a 36,000 member un- ion that represents both the north of Ireland and the Republic, at a time when the INTO in the north is start- ing to work closely with the Ulster Teachers Union.
While taking on the role as presi- dent of the INTO, Mr Kelleher ex- plains that he misses teaching: “I ab- solutely love teaching. I think it has probably been the greatest privilege in my life to have been trusted by parents to teach their children.
“You are never doing the same thing from year to year. It is abso- lutely brilliant because you never meet the same children. You are meeting a new group every year and they are absolutely brimful of talent, and your job is to draw out the talent and potential.
‘And don’t tell me there is any bet- ter job in Ireland or the world than to face a challenge like that.”
With the roots of the INTO of- ten considered to be in Kildysart, Where a strong teacher’s represen- tation body was formed as early as 1868, Declan’s own history saw him
involved in student and teachers un- ions at an early age. He was part of the first students representative body set up in St Flannan’s College, Ennis during his final year.
As a member of the students union in St Patrick’s College, Dublin he was one of the demonstrators who sat sat in front of the Mercedes of Min- ister for Education Padraig Faulkner, demanding a degree course for the college.
Declan joined the INTO in 1972 and has missed just one conference since. He came back to his native county in 1978 and taught in Ennis National before becoming principal in Corofin in 1979. He immediately became aware of the issues facing schools in the county.
“When I came back to Clare what struck me immediately was_ that town schools has a certain amount of learning support for weaker students,
where as rural schools had absolutely none,’ he says. “You couldn’t defend it by any standards – that you have something available to larger schools that wasn’t available to children in smaller schools.”
Issues such as class sizes and spe- cial education needs will be high on his agenda during Mr Kelleher’s presidency.
‘There has been a lot of improve- ment in special education access in ordinary national schools for chil- dren with special needs and disabili- ties,” he says.
“It was something that was very important because children should be able to grow up and go to school in their own local community if that is what their parents so choose. And certainly that is something which has improved hugely in recent times.
“What is improving very slowly is the actual infrastructure of the
schools whereby rooms are large enough to accommodate all the di- versity you need, not to talk of class size, which is a major problem in Clare. One in every two children in Clare is in an over-crowded class- room, which is a startling statistic,” he continues.
“Village schools anywhere in the Ennis area, right down to Shannon and over triangularly towards Tulla and Sixmilebridge, all of that area is expanding rapidly at the moment and we have a huge increase in popula- tion. Then we see the government reneging on its commitment of class sizes again this year.”
He said the union was very annoyed with government partners, particu- larly the Green Party, who gave firm commitments on class sizes, but the largest criticism went to Fianna Fail and politicians who stood on plat- forms making commitments to class
sizes that were soon forgotten.
A number of schools in Clare have also felt the brunt of the reduction in the school building project including Ennis NS and Barefield, according to the president-elect.
“The reason for the slowdown is simply there is a huge expansion go- ing on in the east coast in terms of population,” Declan says.
“There are 30 emergency schools being created in the east coast and I wouldn’t argue against that – they are necessary – but they should have been created through a supplemen- NAVA OL ULO tole
‘What has actually happened is that the money that was out there for oth- er schools has now been diverted to those schools, and schools that have been waiting patiently in the queue for eight to ten years have been told wait longer. I think that is totally un- justifiable.”
The whole area of resoursing schools is a major issue facing Mr Kelleher, as is primary school prin- cipals and the amount of auxiliary services available to them.
Schools with less than 177 students do not get an administrative princi- pal; instead the principal must do all of the administrative work over 22 assigned days per year. In the north of Ireland, principals are assigned two days per week.
Despite his success in being elected to the highest office in the INTO Mr Kelleher has no plans to follow Sena- tor Joe O’ Toole into politics. While he admires those who go into the world of politics, he is happy to re- main a spectator.
He is proud of the many achieve- ments of his profession, especially in welcoming the “new Irish”, say- ing, “I think one of the uncelebrated successes of the Irish primary school system is the way it has absorbed new children over the past number of years.”
His many functions for the year ahead will include the chairing of the first INTO youth conference in April, and a trip to Gambia to see a school built by the INTO credit union.