Schools ‘are tackling bad teachers’

A teachers’ leader says schools are already dealing with under-performing teachers and their regulatory body is waiting for Education Minister Ruairi Quinn to give them powers to strike off those who fall short of professional standards.

The comments come after Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said bad teachers need to be moved aside. He said reforms across the public service must include measures to make sure people who are not performing are moved to other roles or retrained.

But his comments in a newspaper interview were very specific to teachers, including an assertion that it is unacceptable for children to need grinds because a teacher is not good enough.