THE managers and principals of Catholic secondary schools have decided not to block a £70 million pay and promotions package. But they have demanded major concessions before they will implement it.
The Association of Managers of Catholic Secondary Schools (AMCSS) annual conference in Waterford said if the Minister for Education did not grant these concessions, its members would not cooperate with the Department.
There was a "palpable feeling" among delegates that "our concerns about the Programme for Competitiveness and Work package are not being listened to by the Minister", the AMCSS general secretary, Mr George O'Callaghan, said.
This was shown graphically on Wednesday night when the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, was politely barracked by the delegates when she pleaded with them to implement the new package even though 90 per cent of AMCSS members have opposed it. There was also barracking when she referred to them as her "front line troops" in the battle to provide a proper education service.
The AMCSS's strong opposition to the revised PCW package is largely based on its lack of provision for promotion on merit except for the deputy principal's post. The Minister has decided to implement the package despite this opposition.
The AMCSS president, Sister Marie Celine Clegg, said they still had "grave difficulty" with an appointments procedure which would retain seniority as the overriding criterion when making appointments to all promotional posts other than deputy principal. This was out of step with almost every other sector, and particularly the other education sectors, primary and vocational.
Mr O'Callaghan said the AMCSS was now seeking a meeting with Ms Breathnach to make three main demands.
Firstly, teachers with posts of responsibility should have four hours a week built into the school timetable to deal with disciplinary, pastoral and administrative matters.
Secondly, schools should be given extra funding and teachers given adequate time to cover their statutory responsibilities to provide adequate supervision for students.
Thirdly, there was a need for clarification of what the new appointments procedures would entail and a clear time frame for clarification before their implementation.
If the Minister refuses to concede on these, the AMCSS intends to adopt a policy of non cooperation with the Department of Education, including refusing to collect fees and to implement new courses and the inservice training that goes with them.
A delegate from Navan, Sister Elaine Troy, said the Minister wanted them as frontline troops with "totally inadequate equipment and resources".
Mr O'Callaghan said it was "not sufficient any more to expect secondary school principals to "possess the attributes of a multi headed hydra", and also do the work of secretaries, caretakers, cleaners, architects, legal experts, counsellors, clerks, PR experts, social workers, team builders and community liaison personnel.