My Work Experience With The ISSU: Mental Health Debate in the Dáil.
On the evening of Tuesday the 15th of November myself and some mental health campaigners from The Irish Second-Level Students Union and other groups such as Mental Health Reform attended a debate in Leinster house .To get into leinster house we had to be invited and we were invited by mental helath reform to be some of the names on ther list of people who could enter and watch the debate from the public gallery. Once we got by the front gates we headed into leinster house where we were stopped at the security desk to be given our public gallery access badges. We were then brought in to the public gallery by one of the ushers this is where we would spend the next two hours looking down on the debate happening.The motion was brought forward by Fianna Fáil’s James Browne TD who is the party spokesperson for the mental health. The debate was about how the government had only given 15 million for 2017 for mental health developments in our health system in the last budget. But only a couple of months previous in July 2016 the estimate from the Department of Health indicated that the required resources needed to fully implement A Vision For Change are 177.3 million or 35.4 million per annum over five years. As you can see a significant increase in mental health spending is needed to succeed in this 5 year plan to implement a Vision For Change.Your probably thinking “What is A Vision for Change?”. A Vision for Change is a model of what the mental health service should be like in Ireland. Its a framework of positive mental health across the country and giving accessible, community- based, specialist services for people with mental health issues.
The debate began at 8 o’clock with deputy Browne giving his statement about the motion. Fianna Fáil is calling on the Government to set out how exactly it intends on achieving full implementation of the country’s mental health strategy. “We have made it clear that mental health spending can’t be put on the back burner, so it’s time for Fine Gael and their Independent colleagues to spell out their plan for mental health services.”.It was then the turn of Minister of State for Mental Health and older people Fine Gael's Deputy Helen McEntee to have her say. She began to say how she and her party did not oppose this motion. She had to defend herself and her party and she did this by talking of how €900 million would be spent overall in the mental health sector this year she also encouraged her colleagues in the Dail to go visit the central mental hospital which her party had been helping. She had a very hard job trying to defend herself and to do this she had to try make known to her fellow TD’s the work her and her party had done for mental health in this country. After this it was time for TD’s present from parties such as Sinn Fein, Green party,Labour, Social democrats,Anti austerity and Independents to have their say on the motion. They all had the same sort of points along the lines of how mental health is a considerable factor in the number of deaths in our country and that an Accident and Emergency room is no place for someone with a mental illness to attend. Deputy Browne concluded the debate saying ”I am glad the Government will not oppose this motion. The motion seeks an urgent review of the budget allocation. It seeks a multi-annual plan to set out how A Vision for change will be set.”“We do not want to be back here again. The Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, has our support but she needs to ensure that the people needing the services are also getting support.” Said Deputy Browne.At the end of it I felt that this funding without a doubt is despertaley needed in our country so we can catch up with the reforms set out in A Vision For Change. I also think we have a government who are trying their best to make mental health one of their main priorities and are doing all in their power to get this issue sorted. We can not let this matter get debated again and again, peoples’ lives are at stake and lives have already been lost and without this desperately needed funding we can not help our country tackle mental illness.I personally thought the debate was needed so we could secure the needed funds for our mental health system in Ireland. But I do think the debate was stretched out by all the TD’s voicing the same opinions over and over agian just in different ways. I think this was a matter that could of been sorted quickly and easily becaise it is quite clear that this country is in desperate need of these funds to imrove our mental health system.By Seán Savage
Be Heard! Student’s it’s time to get signed up to vote
With a referendum on Voting @ 16 just around the corner, now is the time to get out and have young peoples opinions heard loud and clear! If you are 18 now, or will be 18 before February 15th you will have the opportunity and right to vote in next year’s upcoming referenda on everything from Marriage Equality to ensuring Gender Equality takes shape in the future of Ireland!Students and young people often are only considered as advisors; but with the prospect of a lower voting age and a high turnout of young people across Europe in recent elections and referenda, that’s all changing; Young People are having a big impact on the way their country is run! Studies show that Young People, when they get signed up and engaged in the discussions at hand, get out and vote! And the best part is, they vote in a progressive manner that tends to move the country towards more positive decisions!The bigger the turnout of young people in this referenda, the more positive the campaign for Vote@16 will become! Everyone deserves a say in democracy, including you! For example, young people are the driving force of the Marriage Equality campaign , and it will take more than convincing conservative minded people to support the changing of the meaning of the term ; “marriage”, it will take votes, and plenty of them, and many of them should be people like you and I! I’m not asking you to vote YES and I am not asking you to vote NO, but I am asking you to vote, and November 25th (This Tuesday!!) is your deadline to be heard! So? If your turning 18 before February 15th or already in the stages of early adulthood, now’s your time to make sure your voice is heard!Voting in elections and referenda are what drives this country forward, and you have a say in just what direction we go in! Don’t miss out! So many get caught at the last minute, and go to apply for the register a week before polling and find they can’t use their democratic right to have a say in issues concerning them. As a student activist, a secondary student, and a fellow young person who turns 18 this February, I want you to join me and thousands of other new voters in moving this country in our direction, because getting young voters out means giving young people a say in their Ireland, because after all it’s our generation that’s going to be really involved in the aftermath of this; be it positive or negative; it’s going to affect us; so I say: Let’s be Part of it! Signing Up to vote is so easy and you might be signed up already Click Here to check the register and Here if your not on the register to make sure you are on it in time! Remember you don’t have to be 18 now or before Tuesday to vote next year, once you meet the voting age by February 15th it’s your democratic legal right to have a voice in matters concering you! So get out and get voting, it’s time to be heard!
Address by Craig McHugh, ISSU President at NPCpp conference
[youtube link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDr1IFoNSPU"] Extract from speech made by ISSU President at the National Parent's Council Post-primary annual conference on Saturday November 15th 2014 in the Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
President, Chief Executive, Guests, Friends, and Parents,It’s 3:35 on a Friday afternoon, it’s been a long week of studying, catching up on school work from the days I've missed , and the beauty of JCSA disputes from teachers. It’s been an interesting week. I take my phone out of my pocket and the first sight I'm welcomed with is the news of the ASTI’s decision to strike on December 2nd. The typical student in me thinks – brilliant! Day off! A day to study, it is after-all smack bang in the middle of my exams! I tell some of my friends around me and there delighted , and then it hits home. Teachers, have decided to block one of the greatest reforms in education in Europe in a very long time, because their not satisfied.They’re not satisfied with the absence of rote-learning, the fact they’ll have to re-develop their methods of teaching, and assessment. I empathise on their fears of being pressured by people around them to swing marks in certain students favours but I must pose two points to this1) Act Professional, its your job as a teacher to teach, to educate, to inform. So remember this when your marking us too. Remember its our education. Be professional , ignore those around you, and separate your personal life from your work life. I’d personally favour anonymous examination numbers etc. but for the sake of progression I’m fine to put these to bed for now.2) And secondly, who marks our papers at university? A random lecturer who lives at the other side of the country? I didn’t think so…But its not my job to talk about the teachers, and their views, its not my place and its quite frankly not what I want to take this opportunity in speaking to ye about today. Because quite frankly I see today, and this week In general as a great step in the right direction. Imagine it…students and parents working together…sounds beautiful doesn’t it? But it makes sense? We’ve common interests and common goals and so we should be working together to help each other achieve these matters.Ladies and Gentlemen, Is mise Craig McHugh, Ta me seacht deag mbliana daois agus ta me ag freastail scoil I Colaiste RIs I nDún Dalgan!Im currently the President of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union, the national umbrella body for student councils in Ireland, and really any secondary student in Ireland for that matter. We represent student voice on matters concerning students and were a relatively new, and small organization, having been founded in 2008 and taking off in 2012. We’re growing by the day and over the next 5 months will be campaigning on a number of topics such as vote at 16, Equality for LGBT Students, the pressures of the leaving cert and proudly supporting the JCSA – Junior Cycle Student Award. So, today as a student, a son, a child, as a school student union activist, and as a fellow partner in education I want to talk to ye about JCSA . I want to tell you why I like it, why students like it, why its good for me and the incredible effect it will have on the future development of this country.The JCSA has been bombarded with negativity ever since the word go. Up until now, the public image of this reform has been no more than ; “Teachers don’t like it, their striking, this isn’t good for the kids, and I don’t want my daughter’s exams to be graded by someone who lives down the road for me.”But what if I challenged this generalised, media driven opinion? What if I laid out the facts? And what if, what if maybe a student who’s been through the current Junior Cert System had his say! Well then, it would go a little like this.The JCSA is all about skills. It’s all about equipping students with the ability to work with people, work with situations and develop real life skills. It doesn’t abandon the entire curriculum but instead adds to it, what it adds is quite simple; real education. Before I start off I wish to make a solid point; Teachers don’t have it easy. Teaching is difficult, complicated and unfortunately carries with it a confused appearance of wealth, and long summer holidays, I can assure you it’s not all as lovely as it sounds. ISSU and the NpcPP are Pro-JCSA but this does not and never will mean we will devalue the opinions of teachers and their unions. We merely ask they reflect on why they joined the teaching profession; was it to educate and foster the minds of young people or was it to play to the negative stereotypes of long summer holidays and public sector pay that so many harp on about? I’ve sat 12 Junior Cert Papers. 3 Ordinary. 1 Common Level. And 8 Higher Levels. What I remember from those 3 years of school can be shortened in to a sentence; I learned what I was supposed to learn so I could pass my exam, not what I needed to learn and not what I should have learned. I left the Junior Cycle system in 2012 not knowing where Bosnia and Herczegovina or Kosovo was (a rather embarrassing situation to find yourself in at an international conference) I left English with little or no Public Speaking skills and turned entirely away from the Personal Writing section, because they didn’t appreciate my imagination; I left Maths knowing how to solve Quadratic Trinomials up until the final paper, but not knowing how to solve problems outside of them. I left Junior Cycle with a suppressed imagination, and generally disappointed that I wasn’t educated merely just part of an assembly line. I felt unjust and somehow angry. But what made me angry most, was the pressure that was placed upon me to excel. My parents, fortunately are more “Do your Best” approach kind of people, so it wasn’t impressing my parents I was being bogged down by, but more the workload. The Junior Cert culminates three years of work performed by a student aged between 12 and 15 into 1 day of exam or exams. With no attention being placed on the vigorous effort put in by many students over the course of the cycle, a student aged 15 is expected to remember 3 years worth of information and material into one exam. Can someone please explain to me how this is meant to be a fair representation and marking of not just a students work but also their potential to excel in this subject in the future? I want to briefly touch on this fear that teachers have, and I also wish to empathize with them too, I respect their opinions but I do hope they respect their students and fellow partners in education too; the entire idealogy around teachers marking their own students or local student’s exams does on the surface sound terrifying to some? But what if we looked at the future? What if we recognised the fact that teacher-student assessment isn’t as bad as it sounds? For example, who grades the papers in college? An anonymous examiner? If teachers, grade their students professionally as should be done all year around regardless of the education system we serve under; Junior Cert or JCSA , there should be no problem in this area whatsoever. I wish to re-iterate the fact that real education is not present when rote-learning is too. Rote-Learning is all about learning answers off word for word, Irish Essays being testament to this. I can clearly remember friends of mine , performing better in their Irish Christmas exams because they learned a few essays off word for word, while I was blessed with an Irish teacher who thought me Irish and not just the ability to regurgitate information, it didn’t reflect like this when it came to assessment . I recently attended a JCSA Science Consultation Event, another step I value highly, the NCCA’s willingness and want for student voice in this dramatic reform of education; I entered the event feeling like I was the wrong kind of student to be there; but soon realised I wasn’t. I realised I like many lost interest out of science because I wasn’t being engaged properly, I wasn’t being shown the relationship between curriculum and the real world.The Junior Cert revolved around and became a slave to a set curriculum, the JCSA provides schools with the freedoms to introduce exciting new modules that will encourage creativity and spark greater interests in all aspects of education, including subjects never before assessed at this level such as Information Communications Technology (ICT). The JCSA allows and encourages students to challenge the ideologies of the real world and therefore think on their toes in situations relative to them as students and future key players in this society.I, as a school student activist, second level student, son of 2 parents and brother of a JCSA English Student (of whom I share great jealousy of) realise the importance of education. Education is the key to a strong minded, better equipped lifestyle and livelihood. Education should not be focused on moving on from one stage to another, but more how and why your moving on, and allow you to challenge the aspects of life, so that in the future you can make decisions for yourself. JCSA, I won’t lie isn’t flawless, I have my concerns, as we all do, but I’ve put them to bed for the sake of progression and the re-evaluation of the morale of education, because I believe JCSA is exactly what this country needs, and what this country’s future deserves.Ireland has a highly educated workforce, but I see in the future Ireland having a highly educated, creative and proactive workforce. The opportunities of personal development JCSA offers to students is incredible and I’d like to once again call on individuals to look into the logistics of what this reform is all about, because I can assure you it’s not all as scary and negative as it seems.Parents want change, students want change and I know teachers do too, it’s merely a matter of whether or not their willing to sacrifice those they worked so hard to serve just out of stubbornness to reform.I am delighted to be supporting the JCSA alongside the NpcPP and would love to see all partners in education do the same.Education should foster the minds of young people and provide them with the ability to function and work in the real world, the JCSA does just that. The legendary Don Myers asked me if the JCSA inspires…and I answer to you now Don, yes it does! It Inspires students to think, it prepares them for the real world and gets them interested in whats to come in the future. This education system has incredible potential, the reform for Junior cycle is only the beginning of what I believe to be an excellent era of reform and rejuvenation for educating the future of Ireland!Students deserve better, parents deserve better bang for their buck when it comes to paying for the expenses of 13 years in school but overall this country deserves a much greater system of education so we’re ready for the future! The world Is changing every day. Technology takes a greater role in our lives every day. But we mustn’t lose sight of the basis that education is built on, skills. As society evolves, education must evolve around it. We as students and ye as the parents need unfortunately cant strike , but we can use our voices and our voices will be heard! JCSA is good for this country, its great for parents and its even greater for students, but it is society as a whole that will benefit the most from the re-delevopment and the attention that is now being paid to the moral of education. Its time education received the priority of which it deserves and is allowed progress into the future. We , as a country, as a society, and us in particular as partners and influential individuals in the development of education have a role here ; we need to make sure JCSA becomes a reality for our sake as students for your sake as parents and for society’s sake to ensure this country moves on with the rest of the world! Its time Ireland started catching up in the education spectrum! Thank you all so much for your time in allowing me to speak. Myself and Joanna Siewerska , the ISSU education officer will be here for the remainder of today and this evening, and would be happy to talk to ye about anything. We’re also on a big membership drive in an effort to become even more representative so if you’ve any suggestions for us on how we can represent students better, pop over to us, because we don’t bite! Thank you all so much, thank you to the NPCpp for having us here today, and to Don Myers who’s been so kind to us and issu over the past few months with everything from support to advice, you really have helped us along the way and it’s a pleasure to be working with you. I’ll leave ye all now with a quote from William Deresiewicz – “The purpose of education is to make minds…not careers!” Thank you all , and enjoy the rest of the conference!
Address by Craig Mc Hugh, ISSU President at USI rally for education
Address by Craig Mc Hugh, ISSU President at USI rally for education
Fellow students, Trade Union members, Fellow partners in education, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends; I am proud to be standing here before you on the right side of history. On the right side of education.My name is Craig McHugh, I’m 17 years old and I’m a 5th year student in Dundalk. I’m currently the president of the Irish Second Level Students Union; ISSU.I’d like to start off today with the fact that , a secondary student is given the opportunity to get up here and speak on behalf of his union and the students he serves to represent on the topic of just what education means to us and why it’s so important is phenomenal and a credit to USI. What I’m saying here is; The coalition that’s been established between USI, ISSU, TUI , SIPTU and IUFT and with everyone’s support today really paints a very positive picture that we all share in the view that education is quintessential to this country’s development and that education must be protected.Today I want to speak to ye on what education means to me , and what educations means to second level students.And I’m going to be honest. The majority of second level students will not appear to appreciate the value and importance of education to them, simply because… they’re so used to it.They’re so used to setting their alarms for 7am to get up, have a shower, eat the breakfast, catch the bus and sit through what they see as a gruelling 9 hours of torture, praying for a free class so they can avoid the intimidating glare of their Irish teacher or the reality that Project Maths doesn’t really do any justice for them.But what happens if we take that away from them, what happens if we make the cutbacks. Let’s look at what happened when we took away the career guidance from a number of secondary schools and left so many students bedazzled as to where they were going post leaving cert, or just why they get up every day at 7. Is it to face the grilling of the Irish teacher on the mothucains of Geimhean and Dis or to sit through a maths class, declaring to yourself that you’ll never be a pilot or a maths scientist . You have students wandering around from class to class not really knowing why their there, and hence their motivation drops, because without the guidance they need so much yet don’t even know from their guidance councillors they really don’t know why their in school. They lose the value of education, and with that education may even lose them. I’m talking about drop outs, you ask any career guidance teacher in this country how they keep students from giving in to the life of benefits and dole queues from the day they turn 16 or 18 and they’ll tell you something along the lines of this ; “I motivate them , I give them a reason, I show them why they come into school and what they’ll get out of it , in the long run whether that’s helping them through the UCAS or CAO situation, finding them a plc or even helping finding them a job, I’m showing them just why the get up to come in here and why they’ll thank themselves in the not so distant future.” Ladies and Gentlemen we don’t appreciate a lot of things in this world,and we see a lot of things in this world as wants when in fact they’re indirect needs, and Guidance Councillors is just one of them. There’s so many more to this , especially in the education spectrum . Now I’m going to talk to you about what education means to me, because I can imagine President Harmon is wondering what I’m getting at here and why I still haven’t answered the question that Liberty Hall has written all over it. For me #educationis the key. As cliché as that sounds, it really is. Education unlocks, sorry no, education knocks down the doors and barriers that are put before me and have been put before me yesterday, today and I know it will continue to do so tomorrow. Whether it’s getting lost after a night out in NICE and trying to order yourself a taxi but realising the company your on to doesn’t speak any English, I’m immediately taken back to the Junior Cert French Oral exam and boom, we’re sorted! Or what about basic budgeting? Its got maths and business written all over it! Or knowing my rights as an employee I’m immediately taken back to Junior Cert Business! And before I even get that job, I’d like to be able to sit through an interview and present myself well, It’s the newly implemented JCSA practical education system that’s going to help me there.As you can see education is important. Ever so , at grass roots or primary and secondary level.But we all know that, don’t we? That’s why we’re all here today? We’re here to make sure education isn’t seen as a want at any circumstance, and to outline it’s existence as a right and as a need for all in this country. But education only goes so far when it comes to knocking down barriers? In times like these, a university degree is almost a necessity for those wishing to purse senior or middle management positions and liver a comfortable lifestyle. But answer me this, how is anyone in this climate of redundancies and tax peaks for the middle class meant to get there with a contribution fee as high as €2750 ? Imagine this, you’ve decided you want to work in the world of events management, you’ve worked for the want of a better term your ass off and somehow managed to secure the 370 points you need for the UCD Course but all of a sudden you realise you can’t afford it. You can’t afford the fees, the accommodation or for that fact even the commute from Dundalk. The SUSI scheme won’t help you because your parents are just above the required salary that puts them in the bracket of middle class , and because of the insane taxes and levies imposed on them by the present government it means their real income can’t pay for your entrance into college? And what about the maintenance grant, well unfortunately there out of reach for someone like you too, why? Because the government hasn’t seen the importance of such a grant for those who need it, and are only focusing on who they THINK needs it.And can we look at the impact education has on a society. Just as this event has written all over it. Education is a benefit to society. An educated individual will know how to vote, and why their voting an educated individual will know how to support themselves and stand on their own two feet. An educated individual is an independent individual and one that can only give back to society. Education doesn’t just benefit the educators or the students, it benefits us all.If this country wants an educated workforce for the future, the type we love to boast about to the Europeans and americans and IT companies so eager to invest, it’s time we started showing it. It’s time we started showing we really want a well educated population.Because, We can talk all day about the value of education and what it means to me; but we need the government and those with power and finance to get behind the initiative that drives the future, that spells out initiative , that spells out enterprise and that spells out diversity, that takes in the young and spurts out into the real world the developed, the mature, the ready and the educated, We need people to get behind education more now than ever. We need to rid the ideology that education is expendable and that it is not a necessity . Because I’m telling you this now, as a 5th year student who doesn’t necessarily see eye to eye with his irish teacher especially on the mochaneelach and stress of the scrudu beil, and doesn’t enjoy catching the 7:30 bus to sit through 9 hours of leaving cert coursework that I want the chance, and so many like me deserve the chance, deserve the right to have something to work for and that I want to know that I’m going to school for a reason, and the only way we’re ever going to get there is by getting those with the power and those with the finance to realise that #educationis important that #educationis not expendable and that #educationis the future.………………………………Education means the future for me, the future for ye and the future for this country, so it’s time we started acting like that. It’s time Education receives the priority it deserves and that it’s not touched when it comes to cutbacks in this October’s budget.Thank you all so much for your time, and with special thanks and consideration to USI who have put together an incredible event a fantastic “#educationis” campaign and to the executive who really are doing a great job in ensuring student voice and empowerment is a priority. And on behalf of all the students in second level education in Ireland thank you for hearing what we feel #educationis !Thank you!
Equal access and opportunity to progress your education is a right, not a privilege.
PRESS STATEMENT 15/06/12Irish Second-Level Students' Union*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***
The right of the child to equal access to education, is a fundamental belief on which the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union was founded. Equal access and opportunity to progress your education is a right, not a privilege. The Irish state has underpinned this belief in ensuring our young citizens are given access at primary and second-level. However, the importance of equal access to third level education cannot be overstated. We should ensure that any barriers that exist in preventing these forms of education for any for any student living in Ireland (regardless of their place of birth) are overcome providing they meet certain criteria such as having been residence in the country for a minimum number of years.As many 6th year students make the transition from second-level to third-level, this issue has been brought to the forefront. Students with full residency rights all have equal working rights. However, when it comes to third-level grants, people born outside of the E.U., that do not meet other requirements such as refugee status or leave to remain on humanitarian grounds, are unable to access college grants. This is regardless of how long the person may have been living in Ireland, even if it is most of their life. The ISSU feel that students who have lived in Ireland for many years should have access to a Higher Education Grant. Mark Caffrey, Equality Officer for the ISSU, has stated “Non-EU citizen students who have lived in this country for years are viewed by their classmates and most of society as Irish. They have worked just as hard as their friends who have been born here and are just as capable. They have access to many other forms of welfare just like anyone else and I don’t see why they shouldn’t have access to a college grant." The ISSU welcomes the Minister for Education and Skills' commitment to review this.
Census 2011
The 2011 census will take place on Sunday April 10th next, when everyhousehold in the country will complete their Census form.In the lead up to the 2011 census, sets of resource materials have been developed for schools to assist teachers and students to learn about the census. (CLICK HERE)