Too many curriculum changes according to principals' president McCabe

Primary schools are being overloaded with changes to curricular emphasis without proper guidance, training or other supports from the Department of Education, the head of their principals’ body claimed.

Brendan McCabe, president of the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN), said they appreciate the importance of literacy and numeracy which the department has told schools to give more time to, while continuing to teach all subjects on the curriculum.

“Trying to fit in all 11 subjects is like trying to fit a quart into a pint. Teachers don’t want to have to skim over topics, they want to teach well,” he told 1,110 delegates at the IPPN annual conference.