Dempsey facing rough ride in ASTI meeting

EDUCATION Minister Noel Dempsey is facing an uncompromising meeting today with teachers who are refusing to teach the new science syllabus.

The Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI), whose members work in around 450 of the country’s 750 second-level schools, shows no signs of abandoning its directive to members not to teach the syllabus. But the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), at a meeting with Minister Dempsey yesterday, secured a commitment for new facilities for the 12 second-level schools which have inadequate laboratories, which will be in place by next September.

The Minister also agreed to an adjudication process for hundreds of other schools with inadequate labs. The level of grants available to these schools will be between €3,500 and €15,000 and will be decided by independent assessor. The Department of Education also promised that a schedule of in service training for the new syllabus will be available for teachers from September 22.