Hey, teacher, don"t leave the kids alone!

SEAN Kelly has had plenty to keep himself occupied with in recent weeks. He was one of the candidates for the position of Meath football manger, attending an interview for the post. There was also the little matter of guiding Navan O"Mahonys to the SFC final. Along with joint-manager Sean Barry, he was helped the Brews Hill outfit to reclaim the Keegan Cup. Kelly, who is a teacher in St Joseph"s, Drogheda, where many students from the east Meath region attend, has also been preoccupied with another issue - the government"s plans to make various cutbacks in education including the increase in the pupil / teacher ratio and the changes to the substitution scheme. As someone who has been closely involved in coaching under-age teams Kelly has a big interest in helping youngsters fulfil their potential, on and off the playing fields. He says the education cutbacks will do little to achieve results on either front. He points out that the changes in the substitution scheme means no subs (a temporary replacement teacher) will be available to take classes when the regular teacher is unavailable. These changes, Kelly believes, will have a major impact on sport in schools and cause difficulties for teams trying to run teams. He is also fearful of the effects that changes will have on the sporting development of youngsters with sporting opportunities restricted. 'There"s going to be serious problems in that you won"t have anyone to cover when you actually go to games,' he stated. 'Before, if I was going to a game, whoever took my class would be paid to cover for me,' he said. 'Under this new scheme, there will be no pay available for a substitute, the principal will have to say to the teacher 'you can"t go to the game," from that point of view the changes will have a major impact.' He points out that already some schools have sent out letters to parents outlining how there will be a big reduction in sporting activities in the very near future. 'I know of some secondary schools that have sent out letters to the children"s parents outlining that after Christmas there will be no field trips, no excursions. It"s a health and safety issue as much as anything else, we can"t leave kids there on their own, a principal will have no choice.' The cutbacks have fostered a revolutionary spirit among teachers, prompting a march on Leinster House last week and producing, in the words of the Police song, 'strong words in the classroom.' One of the consequences of the cutbacks, predicts Kelly, is that all games will have to take place outside the school hours with teachers required to sacrifice their free time, especially at weekends. School competitions in midweek will be severely restricted, he fears, and may even become a thing of the past. That trend is already happening, he added. Now the situation will be even more acute with all school games eventually transferred to Saturdays. That won"t just apply to GAA matches, it will affect all sports, he believes. There will be a big dependence on teachers giving up their Saturdays to look after the various teams involved. In the current climate some embittered teachers may no longer be enthusiastic about that prospect. Other teachers have contributed to the outcry. St Patrick"s CS, Navan principal Colm O"Rourke pointed out in an article in last week"s Sunday Independent that the increase in the pupil / teacher ratio will effectively mean that some teachers will not be replaced once they leave a school. The former Meath player also alluded to the contentious substitution scheme. 'For many, the changes to the substitution scheme will cause serious alarm among sporting organisations,' wrote O"Rourke. 'At present, a teacher taking a team away for a game will be covered by a sub who gets paid. The system works well. Games, field trips, trips to the theatre and all other educational outings can be covered to ensure the maintenance of good order in schools while students benefit through learning in a more varied way.' He added: 'If there is a better way to teach young people about life than through the involvement in sport, then I have missed out on it. My experiences are that those with a healthy lifestyle are generally those who are high achievers academically while schools would be dull, boring and much more difficult to run without the spirit engendered by team games.' Meath Minor Board chairman Ultan Fitzpatrick says he is firmly behind O"Rourke on this issue feeling that the educational cutbacks would do little to protect youngsters from the negative impact of a sedentary lifestyle. Fitzpatrick spent up to 40 years as a teacher in St Oliver"s, Oldcastle working his way through a few recessions. He believes the cutbacks will mean that sport in schools will only be maintained by the efforts of very dedicated teachers willing to give up their time. The emphasis, he added, could now be on local club members and parents to fill the void. No matter what happens teachers will have to be prepared to give up large sections of their own time. The prospect of school teams withdrawing from competitions are suddenly real. 'The way to solve this problem is if school authorities release teachers for games in the last hour and then teachers would also be on their own time as well. It would be based on the time in, time out idea,' added Fitzpatrick. It looks like the government have scored another budgetary own goal with this issue looking set to rumble on for some time to come.