The rebranding of the Department of Education & Science as the Department of Education & Skills has been broadly welcomed by the business sector.

Principal Brendan Forde warned that principals who are members of ASTI would not take on duties associated with posts of responsibility this autumn.

Today’s Cabinet reshuffle saw Tánaiste Mary Coughlan switched to Education and Batt O’Keeffe moved to Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Last week, the Department of Education rescinded a 2008 decision to give patronage of a proposed new post-primary school in Lucan to Dublin VEC.

Department officials are drawing up proposals for a one third reduction in the country’s 33 VECs with a view to bringing them before Cabinet within weeks.

Educator John Brennan makes a case for postponing the roll-out of ‘Project Maths’ to all fifth year classes in second level schools in September.

In a first for Offaly, the coveted position of Vice President of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has been won by Denis Magner, Tullamore College.

On March 19, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn delivered her first public address in Ireland since becoming European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.

100 teachers, on secondment from teaching to provide professional support for primary and post primary schools, have been ordered back to classroom.

Padraig Walsh, CEO of the Irish Universities Quality Board (IUQB) comments on recent articles on IUQB, quality assurance, grade inflation, quality of Universities.

A Department of Education ‘profile analysis’ of grades awarded at Leaving Cert and Higher Education levels has found evidence of ’significant’ inflation.

A study carried out by Patricia Callaghan, academic secretary at Trinity College Dublin, shows dramatic increases in first class and 2.1 degrees.

His parents were teachers and he wanted to be a teacher, but he became an engineer because he was strong in maths and it seemed to make sense.

The culling of Special Needs Assistant posts, underway since January, will gain further impetus in March with the completion of a government review.

Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has extended a delighted welcome back into its organization to students at National University of Ireland Maynooth.

The annual conference of the Irish Science Teachers Association (ISTA) will take place at IT Sligo, 19-21 March. Keynote speaker Prof Frank Gannon.

The number of Language Support teachers in primary schools has dropped from 1620 last year to 1182 this year, Minister Batt O’Keeffe has admitted.

From March 4, the Dublin Swahili Institute will begin delivering classes in Swahili at the Carmelite Community Centre, 56 Aungier Street, Dublin 2.

Talks are taking place between the Departments of Education and Finance, in an effort to pre-empt an “inoperable” situation in schools in September.

On March 4, Senators and TDs from all political parties were in attendance at Conradh na Gaeilge’s first Irish conversation circle in Leinster House.