School shutdown not the way to win battle
IT DOESN’T matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop, or so Confucius argued. It is as unlikely that the Chinese philosopher would endorse the threat by teachers to close schools as it is that they would pay any heed to him. Yet there is something inherently unfair about their unequal pay scales, a legacy of the crash. Ten years on, the teachers have a case for redress as outlined by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation. It is still regrettable that it would threaten to stop work, as will the other teacher unions. As a force it represents a formidable voting block with the ability to use its weight to make the Government take notice without recoursing to strike action. Between primary and second-level posts, there are almost 69,000 teachers. Such clout could not be ignored with an election in the wind and that is where the unions could pack a punch.
It is manifestly unfair that younger teachers, doing the same work as older ones, find themselves unable to get car loans or a deposit to rent a home, let alone buy one. True, the Government has bridged the gap by up to 75pc, but the cuts grate. And according to the Teachers’ Union of Ireland almost 50pc of members do not believe they will remain in the profession within a decade. The era of educating our teachers – at great cost to the State – only to see them go abroad en masse must end.
The 2018 Budget allocation for the Department of Education and Skills is €10.08bn, making it the largest ever. Those who entered the profession after 2010 came in at a lower pay rate. They were known then as Newly Qualified Teachers; eight years on there is nothing new about their predicament and the Government should act. Last year Mary Mitchell O’Connor found herself hauled over the coals for baldly stating that she supported calls to restore parity of pay for teachers. This would cost at least €70m, but the headache for the State is that it would ramp up to €240m if applied across the public sector.
All the Government has offered is further engagement over the coming months. The unions have heard this before. The minister must now offer something concrete.