A MAJOR report to Government endorsing the work of the further education sector strengthens the case for it to be restructured, teachers have claimed.

As the first of the Easter teacher union conferences gets under way in Killarney today, Education Correspondent Niall Murray assesses the likely talking points - and the minister’s past performance.

FURTHER education colleges with hundreds of computers do not have dedicated technical staff because of outdated structures, the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has claimed.

The further education sector is being stifled by the Government due to its failure to implement a key report, it was claimed today.

PROGRESSIVE Democrats chief whip Liz O’Donnell last night questioned the Government’s commitment to the growing further education sector and its 30,000 students.

THE poor job prospects of early school-leavers highlight the need for paid educational leave from work, teachers have claimed.

ON Wednesday I stood outside the Dáil, in the rain, with a few hundred of my TUI colleges from further education colleges throughout Ireland while Finance Minister Brian Cowen presented his giveaway budget in this time of plenty.

IT would be hard to exaggerate the importance of further education as a major source of lifelong learning and a key tool in providing skilled and trained workers for Ireland’s expanding workforce.

THE Teachers’ Union of Ireland has called on Education Minister Mary Hanafin to immediately implement major recommendations contained in a 2003 report on reform of the further and adult education sector.

A CALL for disruptive students to be taught separately will be made at the annual conference of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) later this month.

THE further education sector is in “enormous danger” due to inadequate resources and outdated structures, the Teachers Union of Ireland warned yesterday.

EDUCATION Minister Noel Dempsey is good at raising "half-baked ideas" but has done nothing about expert reports, the Teachers Union of Ireland said yesterday.