Yates’ education comments contested

IVAN Yates makes several assertions (Opinion, September 1), some of which are completely false, some of which need to be put in a proper context, and some of which defy logic.

He states that teachers are allowed 21 days absence without certification. This is misleading nonsense. A teacher may not exceed seven sick days in a year without a medical certificate.

He wheels out OECD indicators which show Ireland in a bad light in terms of literacy and numeracy skills, yet neglects to mention that we languish 30th out of 33 OECD countries in terms of investment in education.

He says that 85% of the education budget is spent on payroll, but declines to put that in the context of us spending a shamefully lower proportion of our money on education than we did even in 1996. Back then, 19% of spending went on education compared to just 16% now. By comparison, health spending rose from 21% to 25% and social welfare from 22% to 36%. As Minister Quinn conceded at the MacGill Summer School, perhaps we need to debate on our low investment in the sector.

The figure of second level teachers working just 735 hours is also misleading. Although this most basic figure is well above the OECD average of 682 hours, independent research from Behaviour and Attitudes shows that second level teachers work an average of 46 hours per week when duties outside scheduled timetable hours are included. This equates to teachers working 1,536 hours, or over twice that referred to by Mr Yates. Teachers will also work an extra hour every week as part of the Croke Park Agreement at a time when many have had their hours cut and take home pay has been hit by up to 20%.

Primary teachers work 1,659 and 1,265 hours per week in the Netherlands and Britain, he contends. We would remind him that any week contains 168 hours. We suggest he should spend more time researching his articles.

Bernie Ruane

President, Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI)

Dublin 6