Further education teachers 'left behind' despite Harris TikToks, says TUI president
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Further education teachers "feel they have been left behind" and "professionally disrespected" despite the "tweets and TikToks" of Further Education Minister Simon Harris, according to Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) president Liz Farrell.
When Mr Harris was appointed to his current job, he had been eagerly welcomed, she said — especially as he had acknowledged that further education has been described as “the Cinderella of the education system”.
She said: “When you became the minister there was an air of genuine hope and expectation that finally, we had our knight in shining armour, a person at the helm who would champion the worthy and important cause of further education.
“Unfortunately, Minister, despite the good intentions and promises, the tweets and the TikToks, much work remains to be done.
Earlier Mr Harris elaborated on his announcement on Tuesday morning that more than a dozen new degree courses available via further education and training centres in subjects like nursing, science, engineering, and business are due to commence in September.
Under the new initiative, students can apply to the 14 new degree programmes, which will begin in a further education college, before transitioning to a university or a technological university.
The programmes are being introduced as part of a wider drive to create alternative pathways to third-level education without the need to secure high points and go through the CAO system.
Mr Harris announced further details on the new programmes when he addressed the TUI annual congress in Cork City on Tuesday.
He said:
“This stops now.
“These new programmes will help stem that tide and ensure we train our workforce and keep them here.”
He was asked how many nurses would be brought into the health system as a result of the changes but he said he did not know.
“We don't know that, we don't know the answer,” he said.
“It’ll be relatively small in the first year that we're talking about."