Teacher conferences - Hanafin plan for schools too restrictive

THE intensity of first love between Education Minister Mary Hanafin and teachers has cooled somewhat despite the warmth of her reception at the annual congress of the INTO in Galway.

In contrast with the angry mood of teachers at last year’s gatherings, Ms Hanafin received no fewer than five generous rounds of applause from delegates. But they were scathing, and rightly so, of the Government’s failure to reduce class sizes.

Primary teachers are so frustrated they want to meet Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to press their campaign for a better teacher-pupil ratio. At the gatherings in Cork and Dublin of secondary teachers from ASTI and TUI, Ms Hanafin’s honeymoon with them also seems over judging by rumbling demands for more riches from benchmarking.