When Governments Prioritise Business Interests: Covid Cases Soar

PAPtER OF THhE SOCIALIST PAReTY s o c ISSUE i136 a l isJANUARY / Ft EBRUARY 2021 When Governments prioritise business interests: Covid Cases soar JOIN THE SOCIALIST PARTY! www.socialistparty.ie / www.socialistpartyni.org 2 EDUCATION THE SOCIALIST Cancel the Leaving Cert 2021 North: Abolish academic By Leah Whelan selection! N 2020, governments in Ireland and globally were put under extreme pres- Isure by students, parents and teachers to cancel end-of-year exams for final year students. Students in the South last year united around the #Cancel- LeavingCert2020 campaign. The campaign succeeded: se- curing in the options of a pred- icative grading system, or the sitting of exams at a later date. However, less than a year later, the current batch of sixth year students face the same problems as before, only worse now. This year’s Leaving Cert (LC) students are the first group of students in the history Thousands of students hav engaged with the #CancelTheLeavingCert2021 campaign - putting pressure on the Government Peter Weir and the DUP bear a particular responsibility for this chaos of the state to have major disrup- proach, has led to a growing distrust criticisms of the lines of argument classmates. By Ciara Rainey tions to both their fifth- and sixth- in it and especially in Minister of Ed- used by Minster Foley. There have A Universitas 21 reported showed year senior cycle. As a result, sixth ucation Norma Foley. also been reports of mass medication that Ireland is one of the lowest ON THE 13th January, exam body years have again begun to organise The government has failed to ac- of LC students due to stress and un- countries for government invest- AQE announced it was cancelling together – calling for the cancella- knowledge the serious mental health certainties regarding their education. ment into third level - less than 0.6% its attempt to hold the transfer tion of the LC, with the same options concerns. In the past two weeks of GDP. Students should use this test in February. This comes after as last year. thousands of students have been en- Expand third level for all! campaign to highlight the longstand- the Stormont Executive was gaging with #CancelTheLeav-For students, the leaving cert has ing problems with the LC and to ex- Mental health of students forced into closing schools in Jan- ingCert2021 campaign meetings been built up to be the most impor- pose the commodification of third uary because of soaring infection The government’s failure to supress organised by Solidarity TD and So- tant exam of their lives – this puts level education. We must demand rates and threats from staff that Covid-19 and their plans to ploughs cialist Party member, Mick Barry. increased pressure on them, as well massive funding and expansion of they would not work in unsafe on with their “LC at all costs” ap- Many have raised their concerns and as stressful competition between third level. conditions. This decision spares children and parents having to navigate the archaic testing sys- Education workers resist School meals debacle sums tem with the added obstacles of Covid-era education. rushed re-opening up Tories’ callous approach It’s difficult to award much praise as it came about a month before By Seán Burns the test was due to take place and workers that they were prepared to after weeks of assuring people it organise and take the Tories on. As would go ahead as normal. Peter EACHERS ORGANISING a result of the stand taken by the Weir and the DUP bear a particular through the National Edu- union, it has recruited 16,000 new responsibility. They claimed the cationT Union (NEU) success- members since the start of the year. issue was out of their hands as the fully fought back the Tories’ The action of education workers transfer test bodies are private ex- disastrous plan to reopen in Britain has been a source of in- amining boards. The truth is that schools in the context of a spiration to workers across Ireland. they have an ideological commit- huge spike in Covid-19 cases. The ASTI teaching union in the ment to academic selection and This U-turn was not achieved South directed its members not to were reluctant to suspend testing. by appealing to the kindness comply with attempts to reopen in The transfer test being sus- of the Tories’ hearts, rather it unsafe conditions. Similar to the pended this year is great in the was won by the bold and mili- NEU, a mass meeting of education short term, but it highlights the fun- tant action by education work- workers was organised, which at- damental problems with our two- ers. tracted more than 16,000 partici- tier education system. Grammar An unprecedented 400,000 peo- pants, clearly demonstrating the schools plan to use “alternative cri- ple attended, watched and engaged level of fear and anxiety among teria” to pick pupils this year, which with an online meeting organised school staff, as well as the poten- - like the transfer test itself - will by the NEU. The union advised its tial backlash against any govern- tend to discriminate against chil- members to issue Section 44 no- ment plans to reopen schools dren from working-class back- tices to schools. Section 44 is a prematurely. The Southern gov- grounds. piece of legislation that allows ernment has also backed down as When we are “back to normal”, workers to refuse to attend work if a result. Similarly, the University the test will be back too. This test they have a reasonable belief that & College Union in the UK has also takes 10 and 11-year-olds, and their health is at risk. It is estimated stated it is prepared to ballot its There was mass anger against the callous approach of the Tories towards free school meals places them into groups which can that this action forced the closure of members for industrial action if By Krystian Baldys decide their access to opportunities thousands of schools in Britain at tions to the party, who are only inter- workers are forced into “unsafe” for the rest of their lives. The segre- the start of January. This was a ested in profit, and have botched ev- in-person teaching this academic gated nature of our education sys- clear show of strength by education year. NY REASONABLE per- erything from track-and-trace to son would agree that no PPE provision. They are determined tem also strengthens the divide child deserves to go hun- to ensure the bosses profit from this between Catholic and Protestant gry. However, we've all seen the crisis, whatever the cost to public young people. A Access to resources favours images of what children enti- health, even the welfare of children. tled to free school meals in We've seen no real opposition young people from wealthier back- Britain were given by private from the Labour Party under ‘Sir’ grounds. They are more likely to get contractors hired by the Tories. Keir Starmer. Boris Johnson was the tutors, extra practice, or de- It's supposed to be £30 worth right when he said the main person voted time necessary to pass the of food, yet any working person holding the government accountable test. The removal of a pandemic knows that £30 can provide was the footballer Marcus Rashford. doesn’t improve these circum- much more than these scraps. The working class needs a party that stances. The Socialist Party is in This money should have gone represents our interests and not the favor of the abolition of this archaic straight to the parents. interests of big business. We've seen testing model and the two-tier ed- This is symptomatic of the Tories this incompetence, disregard and ucation system, and stands for ur- entire approach to handling the pan- greed time and time again. It's time gent action to provide high-quality, demic - relying on private companies comprehensive, free and integrated Education workers forced Johnson’s u-turn on reopening education to realise that we deserve more than with no expertise, often with connec- the scraps they give us. education for all. CORONAVIRUSCORONARONAVIRUSVIRUS 3 THE SOCIALIST Governments pass the buck forforor Covid-19vid-19 surge By Michaelichael Marron Workrkersers must lead fight forfor necessaressary HE BEGINNING of 2021 measures has seen a significant inin- Capitalist governments cannot be crease in the number of trusted to oversee the handling of this TCovid-19 cases across Ireland, pandemic. Instead, workers have to North and South. Both states take matters into their own hands. have infection rates among the We have seen important examples of worst in the world, as the StorStor- how this can happen. The Tories and mont Executive and Irish govgov- Stormont were intent on reopening ernment continue to fail education and were reluctant to introintro- working people with their mismis- duce the necessary measures to concon- handling of the pandemic. tain the virus. What forced them back In the South, government minisminis- was the anger from working-class ters are attempting to avoid responsiresponsi- people and, in particular, the action of bility for this new spike. Instead, teachers refusing to work in unsafe Taoiseach Michael Martin blamed the workplaces. new UK Covid variant for the surge, Both states have failed to put in while the World Health OrganisaOrganisa- place a proper test and tracing syssys- tion’s Dr. Mike Ryan has stated “new tem, and implement a widespread variant strains have not been the vaccination programme that complies driver of new transmissions”. LikeLike- with scientific advice. Yet the wealth wise the Stormont Executive have atat- and resources exist in our society to tempted to pass the buck on Covid, fund the measures necessary to tackle consistently placing the blame on the this pandemic, while maintaining the shoulders of young people in particuparticu- jobs and incomes of workers during a lar.

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