Teachers Debate Leaving Cert Overhaul, Workload, Funding

0:00It's April 6th. Europe News Today starts now, AI powered and always on. Hundreds of teachers from schools nationwide are heading to Kalarni, Wexford, and Kilkenny this week for the big annual conferences of the INT, ASTI, and TUI unions. Right after Easter break, they're diving into hot topics that hit both educators and kids hard, like overhauled, leaving cert curriculums pushing more. Project work over exams. These changes aim to ease exam stress by waiting at least 40% of marks on school year projects, especially in sciences and business. But teachers are pushing back, saying it amps up inequality since not every school has top labs or home support. And AI makes it tough to verify. Who's really doing the work? Work loads are exploding too, with extra assessments stressing out students and staff alike, while teacher shortages forced some schools to drop. Subjects, 19% in a recent survey, recruitment stays rough in cities, and folks are quitting

1:02over the grind. Fundings of flashpoint, with calls for state laptops for every leaving cert student to handle projects fairly, pluscribes that primary schools get. Just 58% of post-primary cash, special ed tops primary talks, with pushback on dropping diagnostic tests for classes and demands for more mental health and behavior supports amid, rising assaults on staff. Bay hikes to match living costs, and some closed door debates on sponsors and industrial moves rounded out. Expect fiery talk shaping education's next steps as unions plot ahead.