School strikes and witches hats

 

Sunday evening a week before Halloween, the youngest is wearing a witch outfit from Aldi and has been for three days running.

 

She pairs it with one of her two witch hats and spends much of the time lugging a medium sized pumpkin around the house.

 

The eldest is supposedly studying for a French exam, but if I check I expect to find her listening to music and praying for long and drawn out strike action from the ASTI union. 

 

I am making a giant lasagne, drying the school uniform and wondering whether the school my child attends is an ASTI school, and when will they tell us what the Sam hill is going on. 

 

 

I feel like I should know what's going on; at work the radio plays news and current affairs all day long. By the time evening rolls around I could regurgitate the days event right back at you, good as any newscaster. 

 

So I've heard union people arguing their case. I've been listening to the ongoing back and forth about changes to the Junior Certificate. I've listened, disheartened as changes were watered down. 

 

Despite the constant news and talking heads I'm still no clearer on the strikes.

 

Is it just about money or are we still arguing about assessing the Junior Certificate papers?

 

 

And really, why are teachers so worked up about clinging on to the old JC anyway? If a Masters is no guarantee of a job what use can the Junior Cert be? A practice run for the Leaving Cert they sometimes say. But why do our kids need to practice stress I say. 

 

But I'm no expert, like Jon Snow, I seem to know nothing most days and if anyone from the Union makes a precise and clear argument on the radio as to why the strikes are necessary I'll jump aboard the support train.

 

Until then I'll be praying to the school gods for some kind of compromise. 

 

Daisy Wilson lives and works in West Cork surrounded by dairy farms and loud children.