Protest march for SNA Teachers.Cork

joyce2009

I hope this is the right place to post this.

There is a protest march being organised against the budget cuts being force on the schools regarding the number of SNA teachers being provided for the comming school year.
If you are affected by this or understand the pain and worry this is going to cause to so many children and their families can you please spread the word and come out and show your support for them..

The 9th of July at 3pm on Patricks bridge..
Thank you.

tommy21

I am not personally affected by this but hope to go to show my support as one day it will be some service attacked that does affect me, and I would hope people would turn out for a protest.

joyce2009

tommy21 wrote: »

I am not personally affected by this but hope to go to show my support as one day it will be some service attacked that does affect me, and I would hope people would turn out for a protest.

Thank you tommy,,that mindset is what we need ,,its not just its THEM not US ,it is THEM now US next..

beer enigma

We'll be there - family n'all !

I raised this with Micheal Martin & Jerry Buttimer on Tuesday - Micheal had the decency to phone me back yesterday, Jerry just sent an email !

For those of you with kids in school, this affects ALL of you. If the SNA's are gone then it will be up to the teachers to provide the additional support to those who need it most, leaving less time to dedicate to the rest of the class.

joyce2009

We really need to spread the word we need as many there as possible,,,this is a facebook link to it
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111658312259959

Judes

I don't even have children - but I'll be there to support you. We cannot lose SNA's in schools in this country. Do they want us to revert back to an institutionalised society, I pray not - we've all fought too hard for equality, so we all need to keep fighting to keep this much needed service. Best of luck Joyce and see you there.

Have you contacted your local Trade Unions, I'm sure they will be happy to support.

Cork Lass

Good for you Joyce. Before we know it we'll be back to the times when kids were unneccessarily sent to special schools and never got a chance at a mainstream education. I for one am appalled by these cuts and will definitely be there with my kids in tow. You should make sure to contact the relevant trade unions and get them to post the info on their websites.

joyce2009

Cheers folks,,i'm not organising it my self but my poor nephew who is only 5 and has downs syndrome has been told his SNA teacher has been let go along with 3 others so they dont know weather he'll have one next year.As you can imagine his mam and dad are distraught as he was doing great. These budget cuts are turning this country backwards and its the kids that are suffering..

Judes

Hi again Joyce, putting word out for you also, so there should hopefully be a good turn out. It's every person's responsibility to support this - whether we have children or not - our family and friends do - and the children are our future.

evilivor

Judes wrote: »

Have you contacted your local Trade Unions, I'm sure they will be happy to support.

Isn't it the Trades Unions fault we're in this mess? If it weren't for the debacle that was benchmarking we could afford SNAs.

Perhaps if teachers agreed to be benchmarked to the levels of their European colleagues we could afford to employ more of them and SNA's in particular.

Cork Lass

No, I disagree withnyou evilivor. The blame lies squarely with the politicians who have squandered our money and run this country into the ground. However, no matter who is to blame the important thing now is to stand up against these cuts. We have to let them know that this is not acceptable - especially when the politicians themselves and other high level civil/public servants are still receiving huge salaries.:mad:

evilivor

Cork Lass wrote: »

No, I disagree withnyou evilivor. The blame lies squarely with the politicians who have squandered our money and run this country into the ground. However, no matter who is to blame the important thing now is to stand up against these cuts. We have to let them know that this is not acceptable - especially when the politicians themselves and other high level civil/public servants are still receiving huge salaries.:mad:

But the money was squandered on a public sector who were screaming for benchmarking when the private sector was doing well and won't countenance downward benchmarking now that their salary levels and pensions are bleeding the country dry.

Only Ireland could create systems where there means for things to be negotiated downwards - property rents, judges salaries, benchmarking.

All the best with the march though.

katiebelle

Cork Lass wrote: »

Good for you Joyce. Before we know it we'll be back to the times when kids were unneccessarily sent to special schools and never got a chance at a mainstream education. I for one am appalled by these cuts and will definitely be there with my kids in tow. You should make sure to contact the relevant trade unions and get them to post the info on their websites.

Not going too far off topic here but there is nothing wrong with special schools. These are wonderful places with dedicated staff who want to do the best for the kids. Special schools are being hit by the sna cuts too btw

Cork Lass

I agree wholeheartedly Katiebelle and didn't mean any offence by this remark. I just mean that we shouldn't revert to times when kids who didn't need to be in special schools were put there anyway. This serves no purpose. I know that the special schools are suffering also but an influx of kids who can no longer attend mainstream schools is only going to put further pressure on their resources. Yet again, those that need help are all being let down because of these cuts.

beer enigma

Everyone is affected by these cuts - my son gave his SNA a huge hug today knowing he probably won't see her next year - it's a disaster for Liam & a disaster for her

Ruairi Quinn promised an increase in SNA in a written answer earlier this year - we have to show in numbers that our kids are not budget cuts - I'm not political - I don't care who made the decision - I just want it reversed

Fair play to th OP for raising this here

windy1

We will all be there , my grandchildren are directly affected and we must try to reverse this desision . Outside of the affect on the kids they government are siteing expenditure but if an SNA goes on the dole with what they would be entitled too many would recieve the same as they do for doing such a great service for our kids , how can the polititions justify this move useing savings as an excuse ,it beggers belief . Kathleen Lynch wrote to me and tried to blame the capping on the previous government when we all know if the political will was there they could alter any legislation they wanted to, so in my opinion they dont give a toss about some of the most vulnerable in our society . I voted them in because i thought it would be a change for the better , how wrong can a person be .

ShamoBuc

Am sailing to France on Saturday 9th and I'm seriously disappointed that I will not be there - with my kids. SNA's do a fantastic job and Are needed - probably in bigger numbers, not less. Every child will lose out as a result of the cut. A teacher who had a dedicated SNA in the classroom will now have to teach the class AND do the job of an SNA - this will undoubtedly lead to less direct teaching time. If they were needed last year then they are needed next year.

windy1

can i sugest that anyone who is concerned might email the polititions who are making these decisions and voice you opinions , the more people let them know how they feel the better the outcome might be .
a full list of td's emails can be found here

http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=12684&&CatID=138

please keep the presure on

mariebeth

I will do my best to be there, I don't have children but I appreciate the importance of an SNA's role in the classroom. Without them, more kids will fall through the cracks.

Andip

Andip wrote: »

............

I raised this with Micheal Martin & Jerry Buttimer on Tuesday - Micheal had the decency to phone me back yesterday, Jerry just sent an email !

Top man is Micheal, pity he wasn't a minister for the last 14 years, we wouldn't be in this mess then.


Oh wait.......

evilivor

Andip wrote: »

We'll be there - family n'all !

I raised this with Micheal Martin & Jerry Buttimer on Tuesday - Micheal had the decency to phone me back yesterday, Jerry just sent an email !

In fairness Jerry Buttimer was busy with more important issues like leading the protest outside UCC against what he had heard was blasphemous art.

Man of principle is Jerry.

Judes

Hi again - what is the procedure tomorrow - meeting at 15.00 at Patrick's Bridge - and then marching along what route? Will there be speeches? Hope the sun shines and that there is a great turn out. J

run_Forrest_run

evilivor wrote: »

But the money was squandered on a public sector who were screaming for benchmarking when the private sector was doing well and won't countenance downward benchmarking now that their salary levels and pensions are bleeding the country dry.

Only Ireland could create systems where there means for things to be negotiated downwards - property rents, judges salaries, benchmarking.

All the best with the march though.

I think you are making a valid point but it won't go down well here I'm afraid, it's in vogue to have a pop at the politicians, whether it's justified or not.
The bitter pill is cuts have to be made and the teachers & unions would see cuts to SNAs before cuts to themselves, between benchmarking and a nonsensical Croke park agreement the whole thing is in a mess.

Good luck with the protest, it is sickening to see the most vulnerable hit while bankers & senior bond holders continue to make money but given the state of this country and with the presence of the Troika there will be more cuts & protests down the line.

mevc123

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

teachers & unions would see cuts to SNAs before cuts to themselves

That is such inflammatory and ignorant BS in the middle of a perfectly legitimate thread to highlight these dreadful cutbacks. What are you basing such a statement on? When did teachers advocate the removal of SNAs or did I miss that press release? If teachers aren't physically in classrooms to teach then it doesn't matter if there are 20 SNAs in a class. For God's sake NO-ONE in education wants to see job losses of any sort, least of all to support staff who take such immense care of our most vulnerable pupils.

run_Forrest_run

mevc123 wrote: »

That is such inflammatory and ignorant BS in the middle of a perfectly legitimate thread to highlight these dreadful cutbacks. What are you basing such a statement on? When did teachers advocate the removal of SNAs or did I miss that press release? If teachers aren't physically in classrooms to teach then it doesn't matter if there are 20 SNAs in a class. For God's sake NO-ONE in education wants to see job losses of any sort, least of all to support staff who take such immense care of our most vulnerable pupils.

Are the teachers unions officially making a stance against the SNA cuts? If they are then I stand corrected. I never said teachers advocate the removal of SNAs, I said they would let SNA cuts happen before cuts in teachers (via increase in class size for example).

Anyway, how did the protest march go?

mevc123

To be fair it's not the place of the INTO to "make a stance" against the cuts. Their function is to protect the interests of their 30,000+ members.

It's not a case of teachers "letting" SNA cuts happen, breaking news - we have no say in this. PTR WILL increase so there will be further job cuts. It's not a them vs us situation between teachers and SNAs - we're collectively disgusted and infuriated with how our education system is being decimated and the job losses to SNAs, mainstream and special ed teachers are all equally damaging to our children.

I couldn't make the march I had a wedding in the North but I have great admiration for those who made their voices heard, as I have done on many occasions in the past and will do again in the future.

run_Forrest_run

mevc123 wrote: »

To be fair it's not the place of the INTO to "make a stance" against the cuts. Their function is to protect the interests of their 30,000+ members.

It's not a case of teachers "letting" SNA cuts happen, breaking news - we have no say in this. PTR WILL increase so there will be further job cuts. It's not a them vs us situation between teachers and SNAs - we're collectively disgusted and infuriated with how our education system is being decimated and the job losses to SNAs, mainstream and special ed teachers are all equally damaging to our children.

why can't the INTO make a stance? As you indicate later in your post ye are collectively disgusted and infuriated so I would have thought as an act of solidarity the unions would be seen to support the SNAs.

mevc123

There is of course solidarity among the unions but the INTO is chiefly concerned with the huge amount of unemployed members of the union as well as the problems of unqualified teachers and retired teachers subbing in schools.

blogga

SNAs are not teachers. The qualification to be an SNA is pass Junior Cert. SNAs provide basic care needs like toileting. There is far too much focus on such peripheral services. If people want to march about education they should look to reduce the pupil teacher ratio at National school level and push the Minister further on the increased hours for literacy and numeracy he has announced.

mevc123

blogga wrote: »

SNAs are not teachers. The qualification to be an SNA is pass Junior Cert. SNAs provide basic care needs like toileting. There is far too much focus on such peripheral services..

I couldn't disagree more. I know what the SNA requirements are but I honestly don't know a single one who is doing their job with just their Junior Cert behind them. And if you think their services are 'peripheral' and limited to providing 'basic care like toiletting' then you have a very narrow view of the job.

evilivor

mevc123 wrote: »

There is of course solidarity among the unions but the INTO is chiefly concerned with the huge amount of unemployed members of the union as well as the problems of unqualified teachers and retired teachers subbing in schools.

The INTO is chiefly concerned with retaining the status of its members, retaining their high salaries, short working day and privileged working conditions

That we, as a nation, cannot afford to continue to pay the salaries and pensions of these teachers at the current rates, is of no interest to them.