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THE PARENTS OF two boys with autism have told of their disappointment after it emerged the school they were supposed to start this September will not be ready until later this year.
Gillian and Darren Milne appeared on RTÉ’s Prime Time during the summer to speak about their experience of trying to get an education for their twin boys Kyle and Ryan.
Speaking in the aftermath of that broadcast, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he had watched the programme, and that it’s “not good enough”.
He added: “The state has failed the Milne family, and Ryan and Kyle in particular, in terms of providing a proper, comprehensive education … that would be appropriate to their needs.”
He added that the Milnes had applied for places for the boys in two schools and had been refused.
But speaking again on Prime Time last night, the Milnes spoke of their disappointment that the special needs school in north Dublin they were preparing to send their children to will now not be ready until at least October.
The boys’ mother, Gillian Milne, said that the school building in Swords, north Dublin, is not yet ready.
“Ryan and Kyle have been 11 years at home. We really thought this September is going to be our September,” she told RTÉ’s Prime Time.
“Why can’t they be like every other child getting ready to go back to school? If Ryan and Kyle didn’t have special needs, they would be going to the local school around the corner. There wouldn’t be a problem.”
Gillian added that she has been in constant contact with the department over her sons’ education.
“Yesterday was when we really found out for definite that we were offered a school place, but there is no actual school ready – and it won’t be for 1 September.”
“Yes, there is a letter from the department with an actual offer, but it’s a letter with an offer. There is no school,” Gillian said.
The Department of Education has been contacted for comment.
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Do they (employers ) though ? A recent job I saw advert by a major MN required a 3rd Level Degree plus 2 languages and experience for “customer service”. For €9.65 an hour on a contract (non permanent job) basis ?? That’s not a viable career imho. You’d get more in retail…..
You’d get 1 euro less in retail but then again working at a till beats handling international calls
No but you get to move up. You get in the door and if you’re good enough get promoted or acquire skills to allow you get a better job. It’s called the real world. Get used to it.
Didn’t link properly last time but Kevin, how the heck does working for 1 eur less make sense?
How about a large dose of cop on, I know people with all those skills but they have terrible dexterity and seem to have great difficulty with the simplest of tasks.
I think that comes down to confidence. Which a lot of graduates will lack as they’re entering an arena filled with people they believe to be better than them in almost every way relating to the job. Once a person gains confidence in their worth you soon see the small mistakes disappear.
Reading, listening, writing and basic cop on is nothing to do with confidence, more a lifestyle attitude.
I’d like my graduates to speak 19 languages fluently, predict the future of it and know how to make me loads of money, have big breasts, Wear short skirts and work for half the minimum wage…. Why is it so hard to find staff…?
Those skills seem to be counter to what Irish graduates generally have, particularly language skills – ie a typical Dutch graduate would have business competence in at least 3 languages. While useful, it is not essential, as English is the lingua franca of today, and global workforces mean that unless you are working in one of the many telesales or global accounting jobs (which require 1 specific language, and normally go to an immigrant from that country), English is the common core if you have to work with potentially over 180 different countries.
My general criteria above all of those is adaptability and attitude; something that thankfully cop-on brings with it.
If the person graduated with first class honours you can be sure their ‘lifestyle attitude’ (whatever that means) towards reading/writing/listening is pretty good. But take the confidence away from even the best and you’ll see horrible mistakes that are hard to explain.
Shane, confidence is the one thing newer graduates don’t lack in fact this overconfidence is a major problem as the know all attitude makes it impossible and downright unpleasant to train them.
Adulation of their mammys and piers at university has given them a ridiculous sense of superiority.
A few years in the real world usually cures this but I know people now in their 30′s who behave like teens, out partying during the week, hung over at work but feel their genius is not being recognised.
I won’t deny those people also exist Joe.
@joe traynor – such is the state of the millennial Generation Y, the generation that know everything and are unteachable. A friend of mine referred to them as the l’oreal generation – because they’re worth it.
@Joe Traynor:
“Adulation of their mammys and piers at university…..”
Oh yes, architectural students. I know the type!
I see junior positions by where all sorts of experience is required (up to 4 years in one case). Employers are taking the p**s. Companies are too lazy these days. Whatever happened to on the job training?
Nail on the head. Employers understandably want to have people “hit the ground running” but it’s simply not practical to expect that everyone will be able to.
I started a job in Feb and thought the responsibility would be would be a lot less. I’m delighted to be using skills that go beyond what I expected the role to be and feel very much valued because of that. It’s the kind of attitude that large companies I’ve worked in don’t really foster.
Something I wish I knew sooner was that the experience in working for a start up is pretty incredible.
Personally I don’t think there is enough encouragement in start ups in Ireland.
Nail on head John.
My nine and two year old have 3 languages
English Lithuanian and Russian
The 9 year old is picking up the Irish language pretty good too.
Here’s hoping they have a bright future on the jobs front
That red head in the photo…. I don’t give a toss what skills you have… But your hired…
My 7 year old the same; English and Polish fluent, attends French lessons and quickly grasped it, and Irish too. Languages should be taught from an early age in school. It’s difficult to learn from 13 onwards.
Don’t forget connections, you can have a degree all you like ticking all the boxes. But if you don’t know someone in there its pointless.
In my working experience the vast majority of graduates haven’t got a clue. A really good one comes along every so often but that’s the exception.
My advice to HR, put anyone in most non scientific jobs for 2 years learning on the job and they’ll be as good as any graduate but paid less.
” Employers want FOUR major things from new graduates: writing, language and leadership skills,
Oh, – and must work for peanuts…”
I would gladly work for peanuts if the quantities were attractive.
My friend is a lecturer in DBS and went to some conference were google were saying the same things that graduates are over qualified and over confidant for what they want! If they want a world class programmer they ll get one from MIT not WIT. The Waterford guys took exception to this and stated our students are not there graduating to make you guys in google money. Dont be complaining when your students dont get jobs then.
Why do those who do not possess a degree always try to put down those who possess a degree? Why study for a degree when everybody is entitled to a good salary, free housing, free water, an excellent health care system and cheap public transport?
@tap – nobody is putting then down. However , having had experience in a masters program as a mature student – I have personally witnessed those who had extremely poor literary writing skills, on a par with what I would expect from a pre inter cert school goer – yet at the same time genuinely believed how fantastic they were.
Maybe a degree is a personal goal for someone. It certainly dose not guarntee success and wealth. Alot of millionaire s and Billionairs dont have any education at all. I no guys who were told they would amount to nothing by teachers in school. They now run successfull businesses without any third level education!
Unfortunately poor literacy skills is shared among those with and without third-level education. Unfortunatly their are many who wood embarass themselves by there inability to rite a simpel gramatically correct sentance.
Is ‘I no guys’ the same as ‘I negative guys’ and is it the opposite of ‘I yes guys’?
You really need to get rid of the chip, Tap. Simple truth is, if I need someone to screw in a light bulb then send me someone who can screw in a light bulb, not someone who can theorise on how a light bulb should be screwed in.
No offence, been there seen that.
Ill aslnthe audience please Gay.
Damn phone! ” Ill ask the audience”
I have all those bar fluency in a foreign language.
Someone gis a job.
Employers always aim high, it used to be “25 years old with 20 years experience”.
In my career, when hiring staff, experience always won out over education. It’s not that education isn’t important but if you have a need for someone to come in and do a job straight away, experience is what counts, the grads have to start at the bottom.
Interviewee last had his neck tie and top button open in a trendy hipster way. If you’re not going to dress yourself properly for the interview then how the heck do you think people are going to take you seriously?
Just hired a guy who was very nervous but enthusiastic and smiled a lot.
As someone who is graduating with a 1.1 , has tons of exp, and loads of extra curricular, it is hard , there are tons of unpaid stuff to sift through and very few paid stuff in marketing, some jobs want basically a web designer for ‘unpaid for 6 months but may lead to a full time role’
I’m getting pretty sick of leadership being passed off a skill that you can learn. In my opinion it’s an aptitude that some people will have and others just plain won’t no matter their intelligence. I’ve worked for and with people who deluded themselves into thing a few hours of a leadership train course made them a leader, it did not!
A good employer should not expect a college grad to have a mature leadership ability, instead they should be on the look out for the early signs and nurture it as part of developing that employees role in the org, unfortunately that’s usually the exception and not the rule.
That is funny as I thought it was who knew whom?
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