Clare teachers have accused the Education Minister of having little understanding about the impact budget cuts will have on rural schools in the county.
Speaking at the INTO Annual Conference in Kerry yesterday, Minister Ruairi Quinn urged parents living in rural areas not be worried about their children’s education.
Under the budgetary plans a fifth of Clare schools are set to lose teachers from September while local teaching representatives claim the measures will destabilise a further 60 schools here..
Clare INTO delegates who were among those to protest during Minister Quinn’s speech yesterday believe he’s done little to allay the fears of their member or parents,
Clare representative and Mullagh Teacher Sean McMahon feels the importance of rural schools is being totally under-played.
Meanwhile,
The Education Minister is set for further conflict from teacher representatives today when he attends the Teachers Union of Ireland conference.
Ruairi Quinn will address the second and third level teachers congress in Wexford this afternoon – following the TUI’s warning of industrial action if there are further cuts to pay or allowances.
He was jeered, heckled and laughed at yesterday by delegates at the Irish National Teachers Organisation and Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland conferences in Killarney and Cork.
TUI President and Shannon Teacher Bernie Ruane says that members of her union will also be making their anger clear to Minister Quinn.
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