The elitism in many fee-paying schools masks unfair treatment of some staff being paid up to one -third less than even the lowest-paid young teachers at other schools.

Teachers have called for a national audit of all schools to ensure they are fire safe and meet all health and safety standards.

The dispute between teachers and the Department of Education over junior cycle reform is due to become more protracted after secondary teachers decided not to undertake associated assessments of their own students.

Schools or other employers who fail to prioritise part-time teachers to fill vacancies face the prospect of being named and shamed by a teacher union.

Career pay differentials of up to €300,000 between older and younger teachers look set to be another headache for the next government.

Catherine Dooley, 26, from Navan in Co Meath, is a primary school teacher who graduated in November 2012.

A school for deaf children has been told by the Labour Court to reinstate a dismissed temporary teacher with a contract of indefinite duration and pay him arrears of more than €88,000.

Newly employed teachers are being treated like “galley slaves” and will earn around €300,000 less over a 40-year career than current senior colleagues, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) conference has been told.

Teachers need to have their voice properly heard on educational reforms — and more time to help implement changes and work with their students.

INTO members unanimously passed a motion calling for the equalisation of pay and conditions for newly qualified teachers. The also motion condemned the cuts to pay that teachers have had since 2011.

The focus on extra work for teachers — but with little productivity as a result — will damage, not improve, education, ASTI president Máire G Ní Chiarba has warned.

Reduced pay and low hours are driving the best young graduates away from teaching as a profession, a leading union has warned.

THE idea that the economic recovery could be as hard to manage as the recession gained some impetus yesterday when gardaí voted overwhlemingly — 87% to 11% — to reject the Lansdowne Road agreement on public service pay. Last week the AGSI, the organisation representing garda sergeants and inspectors, also rejected the deal. Two teachers’ unions, the ASTI and the TUI, have also voted against it.

Fears that upskilling courses could be privatised and ‘dumbed down’ as a cash-saving measure have prompted a threat of industrial action by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland.

Unions and management bodies need to come together to discuss the fragmentation of special needs assistant (SNA) posts, according to the Education Minister.

The high number of non- permanent teachers — 35% — is destroying the pupil-teacher relationship, the ASTI convention heard.

Teachers in special schools say they are seen as “second rate” because they teach children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan is disturbed by the idea of teachers blocking colleagues from upskilling themselves as the impasse on junior cycle reform shows no sign of lifting.

Teachers have been head-butted, kicked, punched, spat at, and suffered broken bones as attacks in the classroom become more frequent and violent.

WITH teachers and Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan engaged in a fruitless war of words, worried parents and the country’s leading business organisation, Ibec, are understandably concerned about the long-term impact of this festering dispute on pupils and the whole education system.

Asylum-seeker students may soon get a chance at a third-level education that financial barriers have previously blocked most from receiving, Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan has said.

Secondary teachers are to seek a full restoration of pay, as guaranteed in the Haddington Road Agreement.

The levels of support for schools with the most disadvantaged pupils may not be enough, new research suggests.

The ban on promotion in primary schools should be lifted immediately, according to delegates at the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) annual congress.

Teachers spoke in support of ongoing opposition to elements of junior cycle reforms at conferences in Kerry and Wexford yesterday.

Teachers and lecturers rose in applause at Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan’s intervention on behalf of colleagues who are in dispute with two colleges over the effects of a planned takeover.

Teachers’ criticism of the proposed junior cycle misses the point. The current system is not fit for purpose, writes Tony Donohoe            

Fee-paying schools have been lobbying the Government to allow them keep places for the children of past pupils, according to Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan.

A greater shake-up of school admissions rules is needed, opposition TDs have warned.

NEW legislation on school enrolment consolidates religious authority in our schools and runs contrary to the objectives outlined by the last Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn — a reduction in the level of school patronage by the Catholic Church to something considerably less than the current 90%.

The Croke Park agreement, under which teachers work 33 hours per year in non-classroom contact, has been described as the “greatest waste of time ever”.

There will be “no compromise” by protesting teachers in their opposition to proposed Junior Certificate reforms, the new president-elect of the 18,000-member ASTI has warned.

Teachers should not be expected to provide further extra work in return for any restoration of pay cuts of recent years, delegates at the Teachers’ Union of Ireland congress told their officials.

Nearly €4 out of every €5 spent on education goes on pay and pension, writes Gerard Howlin

Teachers who want to take part in training for new junior cycle programmes may be blocked by pickets as union leaders seek further changes to reform proposals.

Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan has urged people to join her in voting yes in the upcoming same sex marriage referendum.

Primary teachers seeking pay restoration should go on strike to secure a rise in their wages, according to a motion yesterday at the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) annual congress.

Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan could face Cabinet pressure and campaigning from schools as she plans to put much tighter limits than previously proposed on the number of places schools can reserve for past pupils’ children.

Over €1m in backpay will be paid by the Department of Education to up to 2,000 teachers over the next week — almost two years after revised salaries were agreed.

New rules and procedures to ensure schools operate fair and transparent enrolment policies will be put in place by new laws that could take effect in the next year.

Primary school teachers are under an increasing amount of stress in the workplace, according to research which shows the extent of the problem.

The potential for division between the two second-level unions on strategy in relation to junior cycle reforms will be watched closely by the Department of Education this week.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) is calling for the repeal of an equality law provision allowing schools to fire, or not hire, people whose sexual orientation or family status is not in line with their religious ethos.

The possible withdrawal from teaching of English in their row with Education Minister Ruairi Quinn over the replacement of the Junior Certificate may be put to ASTI members in the autumn.