The Education Minister says it was difficult to endure the heckling of teachers at the ASTI yesterday, but that robust debate should be encouraged.
Ruairi Quinn has finished his tour of the teachers' conferences, where Junior cycle reform dominated the agenda for second-level unions.
Meanwhile the General-Secretary of the ASTI says he has received online death threats from other members of the union.
Pat King made the revelation during an address at the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) conference in Wexford this morning. He says there were also despicable references made about his children and grandchildren in the comments.
He says he reported the bullying and abuse to the ASTI Central Executive Council in January.
Mr. King condemned the treatment the Education Minister got at the hands of teachers yesterday when he was booed, jeered and heckled.
Ruairi Quinn says it was difficult to be heckled by teachers at the ASTI conference yesterday, but that it is part and parcel of being a politician. And he was critical of the online abuse.
Ruairi Quinn addressed the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) earlier, where he got a much more courteous response.
At that conference today, the Minister proposed a major overhaul of the Further Education and Training (FET) sector.
He said that PLCs and ITs should operate a 12-month calendar, rather than closing for up to five months over the summer.
SOLAS - the body that replaced FAS - has conducted a review of the sector and will be launching its five year strategy for further education and training in the next few weeks.
Before his address, teachers were urged by the TUI General-Secretary John MacGabhann to be courteous to the Minister.
The delegates adhered to the request, and even when Minister Quinn proposed major changes to further education colleges, there was no upset.
Meanwhile the TUI unanimously passed a motion calling for cuts to guidance counsellors to be reversed.
Teachers have also been outlined their objections to Junior Cycle Reform, saying the system will not be fair to pupils.
A number of motions laying down teachers' opposition to the proposed Junior Cert changes have been carried by an overwhelming majority.
