Technology should open up the world to curious young minds — but crawling broadband speeds mean a Waterford primary class can not make best use of their fancy gadgets.

MARITAL separation and divorce are among the most potentially stressful experiences that adults can endure.

Simplifications to school rolls and registers are just steps in the right direction towards keeping all pupil records online instead of on paper, principals said.

Parents, principals, and teacher unions have slammed the latest cuts to special needs resources claiming the Government is directly targeting the most vulnerable children.

A few times a week and at the end of every month, primary school deputy principal Paul Harrington complies with education law by writing pupil attendance figures from his computer into a book like those used by his 19th century predecessors.

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

President Michael D Higgins has joined primary school principals in calls to reduce the red tape that holds them back from teaching the arts.

Primary education is the foundation on which the future rests, and it is time it got back on the agenda,says Seán Cottrell

Irish 10-year-olds are above average at maths, reading, and science but their scores fall short of the top-performing children in the world.

Only a quarter of parents with dependent children would opt to send them to a Church-run primary school, a poll has found.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has been accused of robbing Peter to pay Paul after cutting budgets for all primary schools in order to fund a U-turn on teacher cuts in the most disadvantaged schools.

New teachers lack the social skills needed to cope with large classrooms of children, partly because they are chosen for teacher training courses on their academic achievements alone.

The director of the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) has told Education Minister Ruairi Quinn it would be fairer to spread education cuts across all schools instead of targeting those in disadvantaged and rural areas.

Primary pupils may have less access to new learning materials as dwindling funds are being used to pay rising bills.

Three-fifths of schools are financially worse off now than they were when the recession began, according to a survey by the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN).

A group representing primary school principals has called on the Government to exempt schools from paying VAT.

PROBLEMS like leaky roofs, backed-up toilets and missing slates may become a major issue for primary school principals following a decision to axe a special “repairs” grant from the end of this month.

PRINCIPALS have called for an overhaul of how primary school boards are structured as figures show that almost half are still chaired by priest or other religious person.

HE WAS racing down a corridor as per usual when he noticed that his left heel was clipping the ground. Intermittently.

GARDAÍ have arrested a man as part of nationwide operation after nearly 120 primary school principals complained they hadn’t received history-learning aids for which they had paid.

PRINCIPALS should get more time to plan how schools teach reading and maths as a result of the Croke Park agreement, primary schools heads hope.

AN instruction to schools to cut the pay of caretakers, secretaries and other staff not directly employed by the state is set to be challenged by a union.

SPENDING on school buildings and other education capital is being slashed by one-third over the next four years — down to less than €500 million a year.

There are differing opinions when it comes to homework at primary level, from the parents who feel it eats into valuable time with their children, to other parents and teachers who believe it’s an essential link between family life and school, writes Áilín Quinlan

THE problems faced by schools filling vacant principals’ jobs could be worsened if the Croke Park public service pay deal is rejected, it has been claimed.

PRIMARY principals have been put in an unfair position by their union’s work-to-rule directives because they have legal obligations towards pupils, a conference heard yesterday.

GOVERNMENT policy of integrating children with special needs into mainstream schools will be pointless if there are more cuts to staff helping them in class, a principals’ leader warned yesterday.

MORE than 850,000 pupils will have to stay at home until at least Thursday after Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe’s decision to close all schools because of worsening weather conditions.

PRINCIPALS have warned that pupils attending schools in old buildings could find their resources even further squeezed this year as water metering is due to begin in schools next week.

THE Department of Education has told the country’s primary school principals that they are charged with the implementation of child protection in their schools and not the bishops acting as patrons.

PRIMARY school principals have said the same obligations should be placed on those working within the social services to investigate suspected child abuse as has been placed on them to report cases of abuse in the first place.

SCHOOLS must be fully supported in their role of recognising and reporting suspected child abuse, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said last night.

SCHOOL principals have claimed that social services are not following up on reports from schools of suspected child abuse and neglect.

CONCERNS have been raised by teachers and principals about the integration of a number of education agencies working with disadvantaged children into the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB).

CHILD neglect is no longer affecting just pupils from poorer backgrounds and needs to be the subject of mandatory reporting laws along with other forms of abuse, principals have warned.

THE level of bullying against principals by colleagues and parents is on the increase and those recently appointed to the position are being particularly targeted, it has been claimed.

SCHOOLS cannot deal with under-performing teachers without greater support from inspectors, principals warned yesterday.

PAY increases for primary school principals as a result of recent benchmarking awards will do little to help fill vacancies, it was claimed yesterday.

A CASH-STRAPPED secondary school in Cork city owes a mammoth bill of €53,000 for water charges, despite paying €2,000 every year to the local authority, it has emerged.

CHARGING primary schools for water is the latest manifestation of bureaucratic lunacy.

THE Department of Education has only been able to fill six of the 30 jobs it had planned to help primary teachers with their Irish language skills due to a lack of interest.

FOUR-out-of-five primary schools now cater for pupils from at least two religious backgrounds, with one-in-six catering for children of at least six different faiths, a survey has revealed.

OUTSIDE professionals should be employed by the Department of Education to carry out non-educational work in primary schools and allow principals stick to their own role, an Oireachtas Committee was told yesterday.

Schools will be granted 20 days to formally respond to the new whole-school evaluation reports before their publication on the internet, it was confirmed today.