I want to start by thanking you for your invitation to join you in Cork at your annual convention and for your warm welcome.
I consider myself privileged to have been given the job I wanted to in, what is, a National Government.
Yesterday when I spoke to the INTO I began by setting out the challenges we face as a country and what that means for the education sector.
I begin today with the same message.
I do so simply because as I start my term of office I am anxious to ensure that all of the education partners are in no doubt of the very difficult road that lies ahead of us as a nation.
My party respects the role of the trade union movement in this country.
We value all that is good in public service.
I understand how your annual convention must discuss and debate the issues that matter to you.
These are issues that concern you as individuals or issues that come from your concern about how the schools in which you teach are resourced.
However I want to begin by being totally frank with you about the resources that are likely to be available for education in the coming period.
I am not going to pretend that that those resources can be improved, that earlier decisions can be reversed or that further difficult measures can be avoided.
The bottom line is that Ireland has to reduce its expenditure on public services and that means further difficult and painful decisions.
We all have to come to terms with the extent to which our reliance on EU/IMF funding means that we operate without economic sovereignty.
The parties that have formed the new Government have done just that.
On the back of a historic election result Fine Gael could have sought to form a Government with the support of independents.
The easy road for the Labour Party would have been to take up the role of the largest opposition party for the first time in the history of the State.
Both parties instead chose to form a National Government precisely because the gravity of the situation demanded such a response.
The position is stark.
I have repeatedly made the point that the country is akin to being in receivership.
Ireland is unable to borrow in the markets the money that is needed to fund services and provide for capital programmes.
To put it bluntly, the money dispensed by ATMs to all public servants, including public representatives, to enable us engage in our daily activities and purchases comes from ECB monies provided to our banking system.
That money is made available to Ireland by the European Central Bank at fortnightly intervals.
Every two weeks, the Governor of the Irish Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, has to confirm to the ECB that Ireland is meeting the terms of the EU/IMF bailout as they presently stand.
Michael Collins, the State’s first Minister for Finance, had in 1922, more room for manoeuvre than Michael Noonan has today!
In forming a National Government we have one overriding objective - by hard work and carrying through difficult decisions, to regain our economic sovereignty.
Only when we do so can we return to the position where an Irish Government can make unfettered decisions.
My words sound harsh but it would be dishonest of me to diminish in any way the difficult road that lies before us.
Let me also say very clearly that I fully realise that very many of you in your own lives have experienced the real impact of the current financial problems that have faced and continue to face our country.
I know that you have all had to deal with significantly reduced income and living standards and that there are particular anxieties for your members who do not have permanent positions.
Indeed many of you or members of your family have experienced and are experiencing negative equity and difficulties in making ends meet.
I also know that you are not insulated from the wider impact of the current recession on those children and families with whom you relate in your daily working life.
You see at first hand the devastation that the economic crisis has brought to families in your communities.
You meet the fall-out from struggling homes in the classroom every day – job losses, reduced salaries and crippling mortgages are all too common a reality.
I want to acknowledge and thank you for the very valuable support, encouragement and stability that you provide in the daily lives of children in your care at a time of great uncertainty.
PUBLIC SERVICE
You do so in the best traditions of public service.
I also want to take this opportunity to stress my own personal commitment to the concept of public service and to the role of the public servant in the life of this country.
More than ever it is vitally important that those of us in a position of political leadership affirm the contribution of public servants to the wellbeing of this country.
My first job was as a public servant in the housing architects’ department of Dublin Corporation.
Today as a public representative and Minister I too am in public service.
I retain a tremendous respect for that calling and for all that is honourable and good in the concept of service to the wider community.
I also want to emphasise my strong view that at this time of national emergency it is vitally important that we look to unity across our population as opposed to promoting division or sectoral interests.
This is not a time for confrontation but rather of working together.
Times of adversity such as those that we now live in have the potential to bring out the best in people and can spur us all to make a greater contribution to the common interest.
The core purpose of the Croke Park Agreement is to allow us to manage better with less.
Because, make no mistake about it we have to manage with less.
In accepting the Agreement I want to acknowledge that you have agreed not just some general commitment to new approaches but have concluded detailed and significant arrangements with my Department which you are now proceeding to fully implement.
I think that it is vitally important, and I am sure you will accept, that implementation must be real and meaningful on the ground, bring real value to our education system and that the changes must be clearly visible to pupils and parents.
As you know a fundamental purpose of the changes agreed under the Croke Park Agreement is to provide additional time for schools and teachers to engage in essential activities such as planning without intruding on the tuition time of students.
This has been a major historical deficit within our system and one which we must now deal with for once and for all.
In saying this I do not for a moment take from the tradition of volunteerism among secondary teachers.
This strong tradition of our teachers contributing generously to the many out of school activities such as sports and the arts is one of the strengths of our education system.
It is one that contributes greatly to the breadth and experience of the education given to our children.
I want to move now to respond to some of your specific concerns.
I know that your concern about maintaining services is not just one of self interest but that you also have the interest of pupils at heart when you react to reductions in resources.
The Government is equally concerned about the future for the children in schools but we know that we can only secure the future and sustain front line services if we can regain our sovereignty.
That can come about only when we are again find lenders prepared to lend to us in the markets.
They will do so because they are able to see that we have taken the difficult decisions and have made the necessary fiscal correction.
The Government therefore has decided to adopt the specific budgetary targets under the EU/IMF programme that must be met in 2011 and 2012.
The importance of meeting the targets cannot be overstated.
It is only by meeting those targets that EU/IMF funding will continue to arrive in this country.
It is only by meeting those targets that teachers and other public servants can continue to be paid and that those relying on social protection can continue to receive weekly support.
There are specific EU/IMF commitments and targets in relation to a reduction in the overall number of public servants on the payroll including teachers.
In Education the task of managing our budget is complicated by the fact that enrolments will continue to increase over the next few years.
While the
Government is committed to protecting front line education services to the greatest extent possible, we must not underestimate the challenge in doing so against rising enrolments.
The recovery plan provides for a net reduction in teacher numbers in 2011, notwithstanding the need to provide additional posts to meet increased student numbers.
The detail on the measures involved was outlined in the 2011 budget.
These budgetary measures have been notified to schools and will proceed as planned to take effect from September 2011.
The recovery plan also provides for consultation with the education partners in relation to how best to achieve a further reduction in teacher payroll costs from 2012.
In the coming weeks my Department will be inviting the ASTI along with the other relevant partners to work on identifying such savings.
Controlling the overall number of teaching posts is about containing public service payroll costs.
But there are trade offs here.
Payroll costs are a function of pay rates and the number employed.
In Croke Park the construct is that reductions will be achieved through numbers reduction and in addition there is the commitment to redeployment of those with permanent contracts over the option of redundancy.
This cannot be achieved easily and I appreciate that for those of your members who have held fixed term contracts there is increased uncertainty for the year ahead.
We will need to redeploy teachers into positions that traditionally have been filled by teachers on fixed term contracts in order to deliver on the commitment in relation to no redundancy for those in permanent positions or who have acquired a C.I.D.
I want to acknowledge the work done with my officials on concluding arrangements for redeployment across all school types which did not previously exist.
I appreciate that it means significant change for the schools that were over quota and for the teachers identified for redeployment.
However we simply can no longer afford to leave a teacher surplus in one school while filling permanent or temporary vacancies in other schools by recruitment or renewal of contracts.
I know that it is in the interest of all those uncertain about the coming school year that we get as quickly as possible to the point where appointments can be made by schools to any positions that are not required for redeployment.
I am sure we can work to avoid any undue delays in the process, with the co-operation of all concerned.
I want to assure you that my Department will not delay giving approval for appointments where the Director of Redeployment can confirm that the process is complete.
I want to be honest with you today and set out clearly where we are at as a country.
I want to set out the reality of the challenges that we must face over the next few years.
However the road ahead is not simply about saving money.
It is about making sure we deliver the best education we can for all our children.
The outcome of the PISA results last year is a wake up call against any complacency about our educational outcomes.
I recognise that literacy begins in the home and must be supported from the home but that where this is not or has not been the case that it presents additional challenges for schools.
It is not sufficient to claim that we have a good education system - we must strive at all times to ensure that we do.
Improving literacy and numeracy skills is vital for the future of this country.
The issue is not about whether teaching methods have been adequate in the past or entering any blame game.
Rather what we have to do is work collectively to ensure we do much better in future.
I am heartened and impressed by the response to my Department's invitation for submissions on the draft literacy and numeracy plan.
I look forward to the finalisation of the plan in the coming months.
In talking to you today I want to stress that improved literacy and numeracy outcomes are a challenge for schools and teachers at all levels and for all teachers in all schools.
This is not just a primary school issue and not just the task of teachers in particular subject disciplines or those providing remediation support.
To put it simply the Geography or History teacher must also respond to the challenge.
Being able to read and write well is a vital life skill for every individual and is the enabler of all wider learning.
It is vital to a person’s life chances.
So today, I’m asking each and every one of you to make improving literacy and numeracy skills a priority when you return to your classrooms whatever your subject discipline is.
If we all make small but effective changes we can really make a big difference over time.
One practical example is for all teachers of 1st year pupils to ensure that they are fully aware of all assessment information provided for each of their students by the primary schools they previously attended.
JUNIOR CYCLE REFORM
Assessment is also a key issue in reform of the Junior Cycle which the Programme for Government has promised.
I believe such reform of the Junior Cycle is very necessary and I want to progress the necessary changes.
The current Junior Certificate will not meet the needs of future cohorts of students.
Significant numbers of students are not developing the skills they need to learn, to live and to work.
This was shown both in last year’s PISA study and in research published by the ESRI.
We cannot afford to leave things as they are – they must change.
Our students have to be provided with more active learning opportunities that promote real understanding, creativity and innovation.
We need to make sure that key skills such as literacy, numeracy, critical thinking skills, team working and social skills are firmly embedded within the curriculum.
This is essential if we are to support the growth and development of well-rounded young adults, ready to participate fully in further education, work and society.
Teachers recognise this need for change.
They are dealing with a much more diverse student population than in the past.
All too often computer literate students who acquire information in a number of different ways have to "power down" when they come to school and confront a curriculum in need of modernisation.
I believe that our students take too many subjects for the Junior Certificate.
But reducing the number and recasting what they study will not be enough.
If we are to encourage the sort of learning that we want our young people to engage in at junior cycle, it is clear that we need significant change to the ways in which we document and assess the learning that they achieve.
On the one hand, I believe that standardised tests of literacy and numeracy could play an important role in helping schools to ensure students’ acquisition of these basic skills.
On the other hand, it is clear that the Junior Certificate examination, as currently constructed, has a serious, negative backwash effect on students’ learning and is out of line with international practice.
The current Junior Certificate examination is no longer suitable as the main form of student assessment in lower secondary education.
I look forward very much to receiving the outcomes of the NCCA’s national consultation on reform of the junior cycle in the near future.
I am under no illusion that making changes will be challenging, not only in financial terms, but also in the change in thinking and professional practice that will be required of students, parents, teachers, school support services, the State Examinations Commission and my Department.
We cannot afford to duck those challenges, however, and I am confident of your support and that of the other education partners in bringing about the necessary changes in the interests of our young people.
CONCLUSION
I began by setting out the stark realities of our current position as a country.
However, we must also be clear that it is by taking the difficult but necessary corrective action on our public finances that we create the hope for the future.
It is what will restore our sovereignty and lead to a brighter future.
Public services are the cornerstone of how we can realise the type of society and country that we wish to rebuild for the future.
What you do a teachers in our schools is fundamental to that.
I am confident that if we focus on our common
objective – that of providing the best education for all children – we can make great progress.
You occupy that precious space of providing hope for the future for each child you teach by ensuring the best educational outcomes you can for that child.
You help shape and equip young minds to meet the future head on.
You impart the skills and preparation they require to make their way in a different world where higher levels of educational attainment will be needed.
I wish you well with the rest of your convention and above all I wish you well in your dedicated work in our schools in the year ahead.