Secondary schools face the prospect of further disruption after the ASTI executive voted to recommend a withdrawal from supervision and substitution work in a ballot of members.
Last night, one school manager warned that schools "face chaos" if ASTI members vote to ban supervision duties. Mr Michael Moriarty, general secretary of the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), said school mangers may again be forced to close schools for insurance reasons if ASTI members refuse to do supervision.
ASTI members will be balloted over the next 10 days and the result should be known by Friday week next. If supported, a withdrawal from supervision is likely to take effect before the end of October. Last year, schools closed when ASTI withdrew from supervision as part of its pay campaign.
Another school manager, Mr George O'Callaghan, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Board, appealed to the ASTI to continue supervision duties. He said the union should allow its members to ballot on the pay offer for supervision which gives teachers £27 per hour and an annual payment of £1,000.
ASTI was expected to put the Department of Education's final offer on supervision to a ballot of members. But, in a surprise move, its Central Executive Committee (CEC) voted to ballot instead on a withdrawal from supervision and substitution duties. It voted 76-70 against putting the pay offer to a ballot of members.
Until now, teachers have not been paid for supervision and substitution duties which are performed on a "voluntary" basis in schools. The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) will ballot members on the supervision offer shortly. The INTO, which has still to receive an offer on the issue, will consider its position after a further round of talks today.
The Department of Education insists that the offer on supervision is a final one and will not be revised. However, many members of the CEC are still furious with the government's hard-line during its unsuccessful campaign for a 30 per cent pay increase earlier this year; they are in no mood to accept any deal on supervision.
Last night both Mr Moriarty and Mr O'Callaghan described the Department's pay offer on supervision as generous. Mr Moriarty said it was "incomprehensible" that a very good offer was not being put to members. Management would be making every effort, he said, to ensure schools remain open.
Mr O'Callaghan said he was very disappointed that the offer was not being put to a ballot of members. "I think it is a generous offer.... the best we could have got in the circumstances," he said.
The offer on supervision was worked out last week between the Department, the teaching unions and the management bodies. The ASTI initially refused to take part in talks on the issue until its claim was resolved. But, in an about-turn, it entered talks on the issue earlier this month.
Meanwhile, ASTI members will shortly receive the latest 5.5 per cent PPF payment due on October 1st - even though it rejected the pay deal. The Department is anxious to retain the same common scale for all teachers.
Last night, the Conference of Catholic Secondary School Parent Associations (CSPA) expressed its unease with the weekend developments and said it would not tolerate school closures. Its spokesperson, Ms Barbara Johnston called on the Department and management bodies to establish a new system for supervision.