This article is from page 16 of the 2008-10-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
INCOMING president of the INTO, Corofin native Declan Kelleher lashed out at budget measures which will affect class sizes in his presi- dential speech at the weekend and he was supported by Bishop of Killaloe, Willie Walsh.
Speaking to 450 delegates at the Presidential dinner in the Falls Ho- tel in Ennistymon, Kelleher said he “could not allow the week to go by without reference to the devastating, and savage attack on the education of
our four to 12-year-olds by Minister Brian Lenihan aided by Education Minister O’ Keeffe.”
He described a post-budget state- ment that cut backs would have no negative effects on primary school children as “mind boggling. What planet is the Minister for Education living on? Promoting four year olds from being in the second largest pri- mary classes on the entire continent of Europe to being in the largest and most overcrowded of all is a direct negation of all that the vital years of early childhood education in our in-
fant classes stand for,’ he said.
He asked how it would be possible to educate primary school children “in herds” and still get them to real- ise their potential.
“And how do you protect the child with special needs, with learning dif- ficulties or the child without English as a first language in the context of overcrowded, stifling, unsafe and un- hygienic classrooms?”’
Wishing the new INTO president well in his office, Bishop Walsh said that the “last week has radically al- tered the landscape in relation to the
economy .
‘The fear is that the budgetary con- straints will have a hugely negative impact on the provision of primary education. I am particularly aware of the immensely valuable work that our teachers have provided through language support for our new Irish. Our schools and teachers have of- ten been the first face of welcome to this country. Equally they have often been among the first providers of in- tegration into the local communities. I fear greatly that this work will be hampered and diminished.”