Ireland’s Technology Teachers Strike Over Funding Cuts

A strike by lecturers and researchers has halted IT classes at 14 institutes of technology across the Republic of Ireland.

It comes as the country heads into a general election later this month, in which the state of the Irish economy features heavily.

Strike Action

The one-day strike by 4,000 lecturers and researchers was called because of mounting concern over cuts to funding and staffing numbers.

According to the Irish Times, although most institutes of technology have remained open, the vast majority of classes and lectures have been cancelled

It seems that the strike is supported by both students (Union of Students in Ireland) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), which in December voted by a margin of 92 percent in favour of a campaign of industrial action.

The strike comes after growing union concern at the rapid rise in students taking technology courses, as lecturer numbers have been cut. Indeed, the TUI reportedly says that there has been chronic underfunding of the sector with a 35 percent cut since 2008.

It reportedly said “critically low” staffing levels in the sector at a time of a steep increases in student numbers are placing an unacceptable workload on lecturers.

And it seems that the precarious employment status of many academic staff is another key issue.

The Irish Times cites the union as wanting a commitment from Government to tackle the problems and greater engagement with the Department of Education.

Tech Education

Tech education has become an increasingly important subject in recent years for many governments around the world, as the proliferation of IT into everyday life continues.

Indeed, IT eduction is considered vital to ensure there are enough tech-savvy people to keep industries going. Successive governments have provided blueprints and strategies, and in 2013, the UK government rebooted the national curriculum in hopes of getting more kids interested in programming.

A year later 2014, the British government launched a campaign to improve the computer literacy of both teachers and students ahead of the introduction of the new school curriculum.

Think you know about training tech-savvy people? Try our quiz!

Tom Jowitt

Tom Jowitt is a leading British tech freelancer and long standing contributor to Silicon UK. He is also a bit of a Lord of the Rings nut...

Recent Posts

Ericsson To Cut 1,200 Jobs in Sweden Amid ‘Challenging’ Market

Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson blamed “challenging mobile networks market” and “further volume contraction” for job…

46 mins ago

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For $8bn Fraud

Dramatic downfall. Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for masterminding $8bn fraud that…

2 hours ago

Elon Musk Orders FSD Demo For Every Tesla US Sale

Fallout avoidance? Tesla buyers in the US must be shown how to use the FSD…

2 hours ago

Amazon Pumps Another $2.75 Billion Into Anthropic

Amazon completes its $4bn investment into AI firm Anthropic, after providing an additional $2.75bn in…

4 hours ago

The Sustainability of AI

While AI promises unparalleled efficiency, productivity, and innovation, questions regarding its environmental impact loom large.…

7 hours ago

Trump’s Truth Social Makes Successful Market Debut

Shares in Donald Trump’s social media company rose about 16 percent after first day of…

7 hours ago