Teaching council renewal- are ye paying?

Banrion

I cant remember did I pay last year. I know i signed a petition saying that we shouldnt have to....I think in these recessionary times this is real bs, this frigging council. E90 isnt it? Just so I can have my name on a register that says I went to teacher training college. Sure dont my degree documents say that?
I really dont want to pay on principle. Im taking a pension levy and a pay cut. Thats enough.
Argh:mad:

ytareh

Can someone clear this up please as the TC seems to specialise in being worse than useless ?They said we would get an automatic tax credit but then sent out a note recently saying we had to contact our own revenue authorities/districts (at least for this year)to arrange this ourselves (just what we need ,MORE bureaucracy/form filling !).
Now do we have to arrange their 90 euro payment all over again if this is being deducted 'at source'?
Surely this quango is over ripe for plucking by An Bord Snip?

funktastic

Why doesn't everyone just boycott the payment? It's a useless organisation.

alig

Is there any thing legal that say's this must be paid. €90 is a lot of money! I'm thinking of not paying but don't want to do this and find out that it was important. I don't use any of the facilities/service they offer (if they offer any).

Banrion

Im going to let the first deadline go, anyway. I'll see how I get on then. I dont know why there isnt more uproar over this.
Is there anybody else out there who feels hard done by by this added piece of pencil pushing nonsense?
Basically alig theyre offering a council and if you are a member of said council then you are a registered teacher in Ireland. Is there any other benefits? Anyone?
jaysus its maddening

Delphi91

alig wrote: »

Is there any thing legal that say's this must be paid. €90 is a lot of money! I'm thinking of not paying but don't want to do this and find out that it was important. I don't use any of the facilities/service they offer (if they offer any).

Yes, you are legally obliged to pay the fee if you wish to remain on the register [Sec 33, Teaching Council Act, 2001: Sec 33, Teaching Council Act, 2001

According to Sec 30 of the act, if you are employed by a recognised school as a teacher, but you are not registered, you "shall not be remunerated by the school in respect of his or her employment out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.".

I have seen a number of application forms which ask you to supply your teacher registration number.

As for what the function of the Teaching Council is, read this.

spurious

Has that been signed into law Delphi?

spurious

ytareh wrote: »

Surely this quango is over ripe for plucking by An Bord Snip?

Teachers pay for it, so An Bord Snip isn't involved.
If people didn't pay the fee, then I suppose they would not have the funds to run it.

ytareh

I wouldn t fancy going out on a limb alone not paying the TC ...It was hard enough to get paid if there was the slightest irregularity with your documentation as it was before they existed ...They REALLY need to know how hated (and I dont think thats too strong a word for it )they are by many of the profession they claim to represent .Best case scenario they are a useless money pit for teachers (do they get government funding also?)however I would be far more afraid they will be at the forefront of the growing movement to identify and sack so called 'underperforming' teachers...
Id struggle to begin to describe what a failure they have been in my eyes but here's an attempt in no particular order .

1 Conspicuously silent during recent educational funding decimation and layoffs of teachers in their thousands (=increase in registration fee for the rest of us next year ?)
2 Phone manner of staff poor to atrocious if you can actually get to talk to someone .
3 Threats of non payment of salary
4 Continually revised deadlines /dates (a real sign of an amateur setup!)
5 Hardline anti teacher parents' representative group members on council.
6 Percentage of teachers vs non teachers actually on the council...
7 Possibly the most blatant 'jobs for the boys /girls ' ethos in the country -exists purely to exist
8 Rip off of young/beginning teachers to 'verify' their degrees etc
9 90 euro fee many times that of other comparable professional councils eg nurses
10 TC Dont even dream of comparing yourselves with the Councils representing Doctors/Lawyers etc !

ytareh

QUOTED FROM THE LAST TC NEWSLETTER :

" The Teaching Council’s first Strategic Plan, Fás agus Forbairt, 2008 - 2011, was
produced earlier this year in compliance with the requirement for strategic
and corporate planning in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State
Bodies. It will determine, to a large extent, the allocation and application
of resources over the next three years. More importantly, it will inform
teachers, the education community and the public in general, of the
Council’s goals, objectives and strategies for carrying out its functions.
In line with best practice, this document begins with the Council’s
vision and mission statements. These are followed by the goals
which set out, in broad terms, what the Council wants to achieve. The
objectives flow from the goals and set out, in more specific terms,
what the Council needs to do to achieve its goals. The strategies set
out the plans, policies and approaches to be used by the Council in
order to meet its objectives. These strategies will be implemented
through annual work plans which will include key actions and tasks.
In order to monitor its progress, the Council will produce an annual
report outlining progress made in each of the three years of the plan
beginning on 28 March 2008. Each report will map progress against
the targets set out in the annual work plans."

I think that encapsulates in a nut shell much of what is wrong with the Irish educational system .Utter drivel , like a game of join- the- dots where words and terms like 'best practice' , 'objectives' and 'mission statement' replace the dots in a vain smokescreen attempt by the authors to appear capable of providing leadership and direction .

Now what do you reckon are the odds of the strategies actually being implemented by 2011!?

Powerhouse

ytareh wrote: »

QUOTED FROM THE LAST TC NEWSLETTER :

" The Teaching Council’s first Strategic Plan, Fás agus Forbairt, 2008 - 2011, was produced earlier this year in compliance with the requirement for strategic and corporate planning in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. It will determine, to a large extent, the allocation and application of resources over the next three years. More importantly, it will inform teachers, the education community and the public in general, of the Council’s goals, objectives and strategies for carrying out its functions. In line with best practice, this document begins with the Council’s vision and mission statements. These are followed by the goals which set out, in broad terms, what the Council wants to achieve. The objectives flow from the goals and set out, in more specific terms, what the Council needs to do to achieve its goals. The strategies set out the plans, policies and approaches to be used by the Council in
order to meet its objectives. These strategies will be implemented
through annual work plans which will include key actions and tasks.
In order to monitor its progress, the Council will produce an annual
report outlining progress made in each of the three years of the plan
beginning on 28 March 2008. Each report will map progress against
the targets set out in the annual work plans."

I think that encapsulates in a nut shell much of what is wrong with the Irish educational system .Utter drivel , like a game of join- the- dots where words and terms like 'best practice' , 'objectives' and 'mission statement' replace the dots in a vain smokescreen attempt by the authors to appear capable of providing leadership and direction .

Now what do you reckon are the odds of the strategies actually being implemented by 2011!?

That's a wonderful piece of writing in its own way. Some 220 words which leaves the reader none the wiser as to what is going on! Whoever wrote this didn't miss much................"key tasks"..........."best practice"..etc.

Look at this sentence - "In line with best practice, this document begins with the Council’s vision and mission statements" - there's nothing here that is amplified or illumninated by including the "in line with best practice" bit, but yet the person has the determination to get it in there anyway.

Similarly - "The Teaching Council’s first Strategic Plan, Fás agus Forbairt, 2008 - 2011, was produced earlier this year in compliance with the requirement for strategic and corporate planning in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies" - would lose none of its effect if the bullsh*t about compliance with a requirement nobody has ever heard of was left out.

That 220 word piece could have been whittled down to a generous 50 words with no loss in impact - it'd still be meaningless fluff, but you'd have 60 seconds of your life left to play around with, not wasted on reading vaccuous artifically convoluted nonsense like that.

Much of what is wrong with official Ireland is represented in that statement.

Toto Wolfcastle

Because I qualified last year I wasn't registered until September. It only took them a few months. :rolleyes:

I'm trying to figure out if I'm due to pay it again now or if I have to pay it in a few months. I haven't received anything in the post so I presume I don't have to pay it yet. Either that or they've messed up....again!

mick kk

I have no intention of paying. Its such a waste of money. The council does nothing - I know someone who wants to travel abroad and needs to register as a teacher here before emigrating in order to get a visa. This organisation is holding the whole thing up due to it taking at least 2 months to verify her degrees/diplomas. Meanwhile she's on the dole. Useless.

TheDriver

Further to this, the tax letter is a pure job, all we were promised last year, we didn't get i.e. tax credit etc. However, I still paid for this year

Bally8

I really dont want to have to pay this but there are scare stories out there about people losing their jobs over it. In my area a part time teacher was employed for a few hours in the week but when the VEC found out they had not paid the fee they had to let them go. Its stories like this that worry me.

TheDriver

thats a union issue to be honest, its the vec problem to check registration prior to employment. I would be concerned that in coming years when they get more power, they can make it more difficult for those that chose to deregister and make them suffer

hot chick

I paid it the first year just to get my lovely blue backed letter saying I was registered. How about they halve the registration fee and print it on normal paper? And I've no intention of paying it ever again (unless that law gets implemented). They are a completely useless organisation. I've had to go down to them in person several times because I got absolutely no joy from them over the phone. Of course when I got there I always got someone younger than me, who did not have a CLUE what she was talking about.

freire

This is not an entirely original thought, but is it tantamount to protection money? I mean, you don't pay, you don't work. You do pay, you don't get anything in return only you can keep working. It would appear to be a complete swizz.

ytareh

Ive never heard anyone with a good word to say about the TC .Realistically at least 80% of teachers dont want them or certainly dont want to pay their 'protection money'But with the unions on board with them it would take serious concerted effort possibly at risk of union disciplinary action and definitely at risk of sanctions financial or otherwise .Ideas?Id love to hear what you think because the more I hear of the TC the more I reckon we are building our own gallows...

Banrion

I think I would be slightly scared not to pay. I am usually a well behaved law abiding citizen who pays her dues dilligently (except for eflow, dont get me started on that shower of hoors).
My friend last year organised a nationwide petition demanding a rejection of fees for the tc. Most people who I asked to sign the petition were angry. However, most were willing to pay, mainly due to aforementioned scaremongering.
But did we pay last year?! Excuse my vaccous brain (maternity leave) but I dont think I paid it last year and it was up for review in 09. WOuld I be right? I remember gloating at other poor eejits on staff who had paid obediently on time and me feeling like the rebel.

ytareh

I would definitely pay up also out of fear unless thousands were not paying .TC has already gotten too powerful despite being useless to us -shameful silence thoughout recent onslaught against us in the media .They can not exist without our money .We feed them and they will end up biting many of us be sure!Dangerous beast!Scarey.At least the money that goes to the union has some semblance of use ...Why did I pay to get a registration certificate all those years ago again!?

mick kk

I was taking a look at other teaching council websites - the fee in the North is 44 quid and in England its only 33 squid. I was also looking at their financial report and they spend lots of our subscriptions on accomodation.

sitstill

mick kk wrote: »

I was taking a look at other teaching council websites - the fee in the North is 44 quid and in England its only 33 squid. I was also looking at their financial report and they spend lots of our subscriptions on accomodation.

Accommodation for what? Is the rent on their offices maybe?

I noticed that the fee we pay is more than in NI and UK before. I'm sure if you ask about it, they'd cite higher rates of pay, electricity bla bla bla

mick kk

i was just thinking also - they spend the price of a house each year on accomodation. They spend 200000 per year on it - thats 2 million over 10years - why not buy a house or office or whatever - it doesnt have to be in Dublin either I'm sure. Makes me so angry to see such a waste of money especially in the times we live in. I hope they have changed to Bord Gais their electricity bill to save 10%!

marblesolutions

I know it is a disgrace but we were told that if we didn't pay it, our wages would be stopped and once your name came off the register you had to go through all the hassle of degree cert. etc to get your name back on .
Would be interested for next year to hear from some brave soal who dosen't pay ??????

gaeilgegrinds

Hmm...I'd love not to pay, it's not an option though, is it?

spurious

Anecdotally it would seem a number of people are not paying this year.
It's possible they do not want to state this on a public board.

I think those who are newly qualified or not yet in what we used to call 'permanent' posts are more at risk and more likely to pay. There is a lot of bad feeling at the silence from the TC in the face of the savaging teachers got recently - where was the 'working for the profession' there? How did they allow one of their council members come out with that nonsense of the yellow pack cheap apprentice teachers?

I foresee a legal minefield if, for example, I did not pay and after 25+ years in a job, even though I had done the work contracted for, they did not pay me.
We could all retire on the proceeds of such a case.

All their literature talks about 'when' the act is enacted, does anyone know has it been enacted yet, and if not why not? Was that the reason the tax rebates couldn't be done?

A private poll might give interesting results gaeilgegrinds.

Tristram

They don't exist to represent you, you have your unions for that. The TC exists "to promote teaching as a profession at primary and post-primary levels, to promote the professional development of teachers and to regulate standards in the profession."

pol o gallachoi

I don't remember receiving any threats this year (becoming tired near end of term) but I was threatened by these beaurecrats last year that if I didn't pay they would withhold half my wages. I paid but felt sick about it. Who are they? More Fianna Fail money holes being dug as they cut the system down bit by bit.
We're being shafted and I want to know why I pay my union over 400 a year when they do f all on my behalf. They've done nothing for me-all of these feels like insurance fees.