Carl O'Brien

3 days ago | irishtimes.com | Carl O'Brien

More students will get higher grades in the Junior Cycle following criticism from pupils and teachers that the existing scoring system was too harsh. The changes will apply to the more than 73,000 students due to sit their examinations in the coming weeks. Minister for Education Helen McEntee announced the move on Tuesday in advance of her addresses to the teaching unions’ annual Easter conferences.

3 days ago | irishtimes.com | Carl O'Brien

An alarming increase in assaults and physical aggression in primary and special schools is pushing many teachers to “breaking point”, according to the country’s largest teachers’ union. At the opening day of the annual congress of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), delegates heard of a sharp rise in assaults and an “unacceptable reality” where many teachers are exhausting their sick leave following incidents.

3 days ago | irishtimes.com | Carl O'Brien

Rachel Shanahan has mastered the art of hopping out of bed just after 6am and getting on the road within 15 minutes. “My clothes are laid out, my lunch is packed,” says the 28-year-old second-level teacher of French and Irish. “I’ll have showered the night before, my hair is done in a plait, so I’m ready to go.” The rush is down to the fact Shanahan commutes from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, to Neilstown in west Dublin.

3 days ago | irishtimes.com | Carl O'Brien

Slow handclaps, loudhailers and silent protests are just some of the ways delegates at the teaching unions’ annual conferences have welcomed ministers for education over the years. Helen McEntee, on her first outing to the Easter conferences, looks unlikely to face too much in the way of disruption from the floor. The fact that the public sector pay deal runs until June of next year also means salaries and related conditions will not feature as prominently as in years past.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Carl O'Brien

It is brutally competitive, anxiety-inducing and mentally gruelling – but at least it’s fair. That, at least, is how the Leaving Cert has been seen by generations of students. This year, however, many candidates and their parents worry that the exams are playing out across a very uneven playing field.