Pay deal to dominate agenda at teachers' conferences
National and secondary school teachers are gathering in Galway today for separate conferences set to be dominated by the issue of Budget pay cuts and the deal brokered between unions and Government.
Tánaiste and Education Minister Mary Coughlan is set to address the conference of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), the union representing primary school teachers, where she is expected to receive a frosty reception.
An emergency motion calling on members to reject the new public sector pay and reform deal will be debated at the INTO convention this morning.
However the union's executive is recommending that members accept the deal.
Secondary school teachers will also be debating classroom cutbacks when they convene in Galway later today.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) will also discuss the loss of around 1,200 special needs assistants and the impact it is having on pupils who they say need them to reach their full potential.
