In a recent speech, the president of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), Deirdre Mac Donald, has expressed concerns that the quality of education in the United Kingdom is compromised because of the lack of funding for the educational system.
According to Ms. Mac Donald, the fact that teaching assistants and entry-level educators are not compensated according to their responsibilities means that the overall quality of education in the country is falling. Recently, teaching assistants raised their voices and demanded a pay rise of at least ten percent.
Ms. Mac Donald’s speech was part of her welcoming to the presidential position at ASTI. Her term officially begins at the beginning of August 2019. Throughout her career, Ms. Mac Donald taught maths, which gave her a perspective on the quality of education in the country.
ASTI on salaries in education
According to Ms. Mac Donald, the government should invest a lot of time and effort to make the educational system work. She stated that Irish secondary education has always been of the highest quality; however, in recent years, teachers are facing numerous struggles.
In addition, the president of ASTI claimed that low pay makes less young adults interested in the profession, which means that educational professionals face more work than they can handle. This results in both higher levels of stress for the teachers, and less time and attention dedicated to the students. Thus, the quality of education students receive is becoming worse.
Ms. Mac Donald has promised to make sure that these concerns reach the government, as part of her first actions as ASTI president.
