ASTI - Ireland's main second level teachers union

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Education is a frontline service the quality of which depends on teachers being there for students, ASTI General Secretary Pat King said today.

 

Speaking at the ASTI Annual Conference in Cork, Mr King said our education system’s most important resource is its teachers: “Education is a frontline service. It is labour intensive. It’s quality depends on teachers being there and being available for students.”

 

Responding to the Minister for Education’s address to the ASTI Conference yesterday, Mr King said: “There is no fat to waste in the education service. Schools are run on a shoe-string and overall investment in education has always been pathetic – well below the OECD average.

 

“Cutting education resources is short-sighted in the extreme. It is bad enough that the current generation of young people are going to inherit massive debt repayments without also denying them the best possible education. Education is an investment in individuals, communities, society and our economy. Knowledge is the central driver of economic recovery.”

 

Five-hundred second-level teachers from all over the country are attending the ASTI’s Annual Conference in Cork which continues until Thursday evening.

 

 

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