Irish education news
Bright children should start school at six, says academic
FORMAL schooling should be delayed by at least 12 months because an over-emphasis on the three-Rs at an early age can cause significant long-term damage to bright children, according to a leading academic.
School head threatens to expel under-13s with Facebook accounts
AN Australian school head teacher has warned parents she will expel students under 13 who do not delete their Facebook accounts.
US university cleaner graduates with honours after 12 years of study
A 52-year-old cleaner at the Columbia University originally from Montenrgro, has graduated from college in the US after 12 years of full-time work and part-time study.
Europe's top ten MBA schools favoured by employers
1. INSEAD: France's INSEAD was last year ranked Europe's number one MBA school by international employers. The average INSEAD graduate started the programme with six years of work experience and left commanding a base salary of $107,240. The course duration is ten months, places a strong focus on entrepreneurship and requires students to be tri-lingual.
St Patrick’s Teacher Training College to get a €40m upgrade - Minister announces
ALMOST €40 million in Government funding has been allocated to upgrade a teacher training college.
Girl's school dinner blog becomes internet hit
A BRITISH schoolgirl has become an internet sensation after posting pictures of her inadequate school dinners, in a blog that has drawn comparisons with Jamie Oliver after his fight for healthy meals.
Chinese pupils 'hooked up to drip' to prepare for dreaded June exam
PICTURES have emerged allegedly showing Chinese schoolchildren hooked up to intravenous drips as a study aid ahead of the country's notoriously difficult university entrance exams.
Girls put off exercise for life by PE lessons
SCHOOLGIRLS are being put off exercise and sport by their PE lessons, new research suggests.
BBC Play School presenters 'went on-air stoned'
BBC STAFF openly smoked marijuana at the corporation’s headquarters during the 1960s and 70s and Play School presenters even went on-air stoned, former stars have disclosed.
iPads for pupils hit parents but they won’t need books
PARENTS face the prospect of a crippling extra financial burden as schools move toward teaching on expensive iPads in the classroom.
€500m Grangegorman DIT campus gets green light from An Bord Pleanala
THE €500m DIT centralised development at Grangegorman has gotten the go-ahead from An Bord Pleanala.
Staying in school makes you smarter -- not happier
Staying in education longer may make a person smarter, but it may not make them happier, new research suggests.
Sleepy village wakes up to national storm
RESIDENTS of Borrisoleigh in Co Tipperary seemed oblivious yesterday to the fact their local secondary school, St Joseph's College, was at the centre of a national storm.
Teen mum ‘ashamed’ after school principal turned her away
THE 16-year-old girl turned away from a secondary school because she was pregnant was left "ashamed and embarrassed" after being told it did not accept single mothers.
Minister Ruairi Quinn ‘upset’ at treatment of single mum pupil
EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn said today that he was ‘‘upset’’ and ‘’concerned’’ at the treatment meted out to a pregnant teenager who was refused enrolment at a private Catholic secondary school.
School should apologise to teen mum it rejected – Ombudsman for Children
A SECONDARY school has been asked to apologise to a girl who was refused a place on the basis that it was "not a haven for young pregnant people or for young mothers".
Most parents would choose state run or multi-denominational schools - survey
ONLY a quarter of parents with dependent children would opt to send them to a church-run primary school, a poll has found.
Two-thirds of parents still want schools to give religious tuition
Only one in four parents favour church-run primary schools -- but they still want their children prepared for sacraments during the school day.
Mum demands Catholic education for son
LOUISE Carey is involved in a battle with Education Minister Ruairi Quinn over the lack of a Catholic school place for her young son.
Teacher accused of paying pupils keeps job
A SCHOOL principal who was accused of paying students to attend class has won her High Court challenge aimed at stopping her dismissal.
We must help lone parents and invest in the critical early years of learning
We've got to get our children off to the best possible start. Childcare is a critical issue, which must be higher on the government agenda.
Time is running out for those final applications to CAO
It may be worthwhile reminding people that Tuesday next, May 1, is the closing date for late applications for CAO. The normal closing date each year is February 1, and the vast majority of applicants apply by then.
I dream of a land that's green in the centre but multicoloured all round
The Irish Independent website features a rap video made by teachers at Jennings Senior High School in Missouri, USA, designed to help their students revise. Yeah, sure, teachers in baseball caps, shades and hoodies is enough to make anyone cringe, but watch it and realise how much cooler American schools are than ours, in reality, not just on TV.
Should pupils get points for playing football and lifting weights?
Kim Bielenberg visits a Dublin school, where students do British GCSE exams in PE
Eamonn goes the extra mile for school fitness
The former world champion athlete Senator Eamonn Coghlan (pictured) has made it his mission to improve the fitness of schoolchildren at primary level. He believes there should be exercise programmes for 15 minutes every day, and fitness diaries for children.
UL student scoops journalism prize for coroners expose
AN investigation by a young journalist which exposed discrepancies in how coroners record suicides has captured the inaugural Vincent Doyle Award for Investigative Journalism.
Education cutbacks: Over 200 primary schools win reprieve and won’t lose a teacher
OVER 200 primary schools which were scheduled to lose a teacher this year, have won their appeals against the decision.
Septic-tank substitute and cheap dental work plan win awards
A TIMELY alternative to septic tanks and fast, low-cost ways of filling teeth scooped the top awards in a competition aimed at rewarding emerging research talent in Ireland today.
Hardest question on Leaving -- how do I get my son to study?
How can we encourage our bright young son to make an effort and put some serious work into studying (even at this late stage) for his Leaving Certificate? I have heard all the excuses, watched deadlines come and go and now here we are with approximately seven weeks remaining.
Two thirds of schoolchildren 'not getting enough sleep'
THE average six year old does not go to bed until after 9.30pm, according to a survey that suggests as many as two thirds of children are not getting enough sleep.
Teachers make rap video to help students revise
A group of teachers have found an unconventional way to help students study by recording an impromptu rap video at a school in America encouraging pupils to revise for exams.
Fees for science courses should be scrapped -- CEO
THE Government should abolish registration fees for science and engineering degrees to encourage students to enter these courses, a leading businessman has urged.