High-speed internet, training for teachers and accessible technical support will be key features of a government plan to make technology more a part of daily classroom activity.

The student grants system that caused “chaos” when set up four years ago has lost so much money it would risk being closed down if it was a private company, the chair of a Dáil group has claimed.

Colleges and universities may face stricter controls on which subjects teachers will be trained for, due to shortages being faced by schools.

Department of Education inspectors will carry out evaluations on Teagasc and other agricultural colleges from next year, under a recently-signed agreement.

The results in PISA 2012 science tests have been hailed as testament to the long-term returns from Ireland’s investment in teacher training and curriculum reform in the subject.

A much-hyped new maths syllabus has not yet led to improved student standards or widespread changes in teaching methods, research has found.

The absence of any new cuts in the 2014 education budget for schools does not mean things are getting any easier, a principals’ leader has claimed.

The Government will only talk to the union of 16,000 teachers disrupting 500 second-level schools if they are willing to sign up to the Haddington Road deal, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s top civil servant said yesterday.

The replacement of the Junior Certificate by schools assessing their own students will bring major benefits, says the head of the organisation leading the changes.

Technology for the failed online system to process college grants has cost the Department of Education almost €800,000.

Institutes of technology believe efforts to ease pressures of the college points race should not be too focused on Leaving Certificate maths performance.

Student grant applicants will be given clearer information this year on the ability to report reduced incomes, after hundreds had to make appeals that could have been avoided.

The President, Michael D Higgins, has urged young people not to get involved in cyberbullying or ganging up on vulnerable classmates.

The patrons competing to take control of Catholic schools where parents want more choice for their children are being warned not to engage in ‘media battles’ for local support.

The training of teachers in 22 different colleges is wasteful in a country this size, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said.

GREATER investment in education here should be matched with more autonomy for schools and less focus on reading and maths, an expert who helped turn Finland’s education system into one of the world’s best has suggested.

STUDENTS face significant hikes in college costs as Tánaiste Mary Coughlan endorsed calls for a mix of upfront fees and a student loan scheme.

IRELAND’s ambitions to be seen as a smart economy have suffered a serious setback as the reading skills of teenagers here have fallen more than in any other developed country in the last decade.

TEACHER unions should get down to serious talks on the Croke Park deal and end disruption in schools, a second-level principals’ leader has said.

The Department of Education is in consultation with NAMA to try and get cheap sites for schools.

A DOUBLE-JOBBING college lecturer has been blocked from claiming two pensions after concern was raised over lax governance standards in the third-level system.

A LECTURER who secretly double-jobbed by working in two colleges at the same time is likely to receive two pensions, it has emerged.

THE head of the Department of Education has admitted the cost of the 10-year long Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was widely underestimated and is now set to cost taxpayers over €130 million, more than 60 times the estimated bill.

A NUMBER of religious orders have yet to submit details of extra contributions they propose making towards compensation for institutional child abuse victims.

SCHOOL principals have warned that the caring and support work schools do for students is being put at risk by a ban on middle management promotions.

RELIGIOUS orders have transferred half the value in properties and lands agreed as part of the abuse indemnity deal to state agencies.

MORE than €27 million given to Vocational Education Committees (VECs) for school sites and improving health and safety went unspent for up to three years, the Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell has found.

SHE’S often accused of being something of a schoolmarm, but Mary Hanafin was branded as childish by her opposite number in Fine Gael yesterday.

THE Department of Education’s annual bill for renting prefabricated classrooms has increased five-fold from €4 million to more than €24m in just six years, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report reveals.

Northern Ireland pupils aged seven or under have been suspended from school for disruptive behaviour, it emerged today.

STUDENTS have less spending power this year because the Department of Finance turned down Education Minister Mary Hanafin’s request for just over €1 million to offer grant increases to match rising inflation, the Irish

THE final cost to the State of compensating institutional abuse victims through the Redress Board could reach €1.35 billion - 10 times the amount provided by religious institutions.

THE Comptroller and Auditor General yesterday hit back at claims that he had guessed the compensation bill for abuse victims will cost the taxpayer up to 1 billion.

THE key official who accompanied former Minister for Education Michael Woods in the 128 million abuse compensation talks with the religious orders will be quizzed by a high powered watchdog today.