Supreme Court boosts home schooling rights
The Supreme Court has ruled that the exclusion of home-schooled students from the 2020 Leaving Cert calculated grades scheme was invalid and an ‘impermissible’ interference with the constitutional freedom of the family to provide education in the home under article 42.2 of the Constitution.18-year-old Elijah Burke from Co Mayo was home-schooled by his mother, a…
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TUI says campaign against pay discrimination goes on
The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has said that it remains committed to ending pay discrimination, which it says was unilaterally imposed by Government on those appointed since 1st January 2011 and continues to see teachers and lecturers paid on different pay scales for carrying out the same work.The union said that significant progress has…
Young scientists stand out from the swarm
The winners of the 58th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition are Aditya Joshi and Aditya Kumar, 3rd year students from Synge Street, Dublin, for a project entitled “A New Method of Solving the Bernoulli Quadrisection Problem”.Professor Pat Guiry, Professor of Synthetic Organic Chemistry at UCD and Chair of Group Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences…
€28m for school Energy Retrofit Pathfinder Programme in 2022
A €28m Schools Energy Retrofit Pathfinder programme that will demonstrate the approach to deep retrofit in the schools’ sector, testing energy efficiency solutions and renewable heat technology was announced in early January.This government-funded energy retrofit pathfinder programme will target energy use and carbon dioxide emission reduction by 51%, testing deep retrofit and low carbon heating…
Using Artificial Intelligence to tackle bias in recruitment at TCD’s Adapt centre
With the Great Resignation underway a lot of people are reflecting on their careers with some looking for new opportunities or a change of direction. A new research project, LAIBRE, looks to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to remove any bias from the recruitment process helping to attract more diverse talent.The project aims to eliminate bias…
Atlantic Technological University is born
The three north and west ITs, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Sligo and Letterkenny Institute of Technology will be combined to form the Atlantic Technological University.A new research project, LAIBRE, looks to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to remove any bias from the recruitment process helping to attract more diverse talent.Over 3,000 students,…
Global Citizenship Education for global understanding
Many young people are worried about the future – their future and the future of the planet. Environmental degradation and increasing global and local inequality are at the heart of the malaise. The solution is to make young people aware of the reasons and history behind the problems we face, the possibilities for change and their…
Climate Action Plan 2021 – ambitious plan to put Ireland on a more sustainable path
By William Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, SEAI Last November the Government launched Climate Action Plan 2021, “an ambitious plan to put Ireland on a more sustainable path, cutting emissions, and creating a cleaner, greener economy and society”. This follows the Climate Act 2021, which commits Ireland to a legally binding target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions…
Irish Ed-Tech Company Olive Group launch new partnership with Microsoft to benefit teachers and students in Ireland
Partnership will see the integration of Olive Groupís Virtual Learning Platform in Microsoft Teams, allowing teachers and students to access high-end, quality interactive digital content IRISH Ed-Tech company Olive Group has launched a new partnership with Microsoft that will see potentially thousands of teachers and students in Ireland benefitting from access to high-end, quality, interactive…
The EPA want you to tell a story
The story of disposable face masks video claimed top prize in the EPA’s The Story of Your Stuff 2021 competition The EPA’s most recent The Story of Your Stuff competition received a record number of entries in March 2021, with over 300 contenders making submissions from schools across the country. Now in its fifth year,…
School refit saves 48% of annual energy
Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin, a post-primary school in An Cheathru Rua, Galway improved from a C3 Building Energy Rating to a B2 Building Energy Rating under the 2020 Schools Energy Retrofit Pathfinder. The school is expected to save up to 48% on energy and a 52% reduction in CO2 emission after upgrades to the roof, the…
DCU looks to lure entrepreneurs
Dublin City University is calling on anyone with a great early-stage business idea which is based on technology, to take advantage of its Fusion Programme. The programme is open to experienced people with an idea for a business that has proven commercial potential but needs further development. No connection with DCU is needed. Successful applicants…
€40 million for North-South new research programme
The Government has recently announced Ä40 million in funding for a new North-South Research programme. The investment will be provided through the Shared Island Fund and will support the deepening of links between higher education institutions, researchers and research communities on the island of Ireland. The funding will support individual researchers based in an southern…
Praise for Irish ‘professionalising’ postgraduate research education
A new international report has commended Irish higher education institutions for ensuring both the standard of awards, and the quality of student experience, by ‘professionalising’ the delivery of postgraduate research education and training in Ireland. The report was published by an international expert team within the European University Association. The expert team investigated the level…
Ulster University’s celtic researchers strengthen connection to Brittany
Irish and Celtic Studies research at Ulster University is involved in research across the breadth of the discipline, in particular Early and Modern Irish Literature, Celtic Philology and Linguistics, Irish and European Ethnology and Folklore, Manuscript and Textual Studies and Revivalism. The university has announced is that Dr Maxim Fomin, Research Director – Modern Languages…
Three new Local Creative Youth Partnerships unveiled
Three new Local Creative Youth Partnerships (LCYP) will be based in the Cork ETB, Mayo Sligo Leitrim ETB and Galway Roscommon ETB regions. These new partnerships, which will commence in mid-2021 brings the total number of LCYPs to six. The LCYPs combine a wide range of human and infrastructural resources to develop and provide…
Too many young people going to university says educational philanthropist
Peter Lampl, a British educational philanthropist and charity founder, has questioned the value of third level education to many young people. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he said the he believes that many students in Britain leave college burdened by debt. “Too many graduates come out with a lot of debt, the levels…
UNESCO urges countries to prioritize teachers in Covid vaccine rollout
UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 are collecting information on teacher prioritization within national COVID-19 vaccine deployment. While the protection of teachers is essential for schools to reopen safely, just 21 out of 197 countries prioritize teachers in the first phase of vaccination efforts. Another 37 countries include teachers as…
10,000 free courses for unemployed, self-employed or returners to work
The Government has launched 10,158 places on 294 courses under Springboard+ 2021. In addition 1,101 places on 1 and 2 year ICT graduate conversion courses are also on offer under the initiative. Springboard+ courses are at Level 6 (Certificate) to Level 9 (Masters) on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) and are delivered by public…
ASTI call for research on Junior Cert Irish
In a submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Irish language, the Gaeltacht and Irish-speaking communities, ASTI has called for research into implementation of the ‘T1 agus T2’ programme before it’s extended to the senior cycle. The union says that in feedback to an ASTI survey and seminar: “a strong message came from Gaeilge teachers…