Very often the task of managing and operating schools and the role and function of managers and principals can be taken for granted. In a complex and changing education system this task has become an ever demanding one. The role of school management is to balance scarce resources with the need to provide the best education possible for the students and a positive and supportive working environment for teachers and other staff. The myriad skills and competencies required in the role range from communication skills to financial, administrative, technical, financial and human relations.

Voluntary secondary schools comprise over 60 per cent of post-primary schools and educate more than 200,000 second-level pupils. At this year's annual conference, school managers will be examining and debating many issues that effect the operation of these schools. Among them will be the industrial action by the ASTI, the impact of Government policies on schools and the issue of underfunding and resourcing.

Industrial action

The past year has been a momentous one for school management. It has been marked by the longest-running industrial action that our school system has witnessed since 1969. The strike action, which commenced last November, has lasted longer than anyone anticipated at the outset.

The events as they have unfolded have also unleashed many new forces in our education system. Parent and student protests are a relatively new phenomenon. Many have been surprised by the intensity of the reactions.

The strike action and these subsequent reactions to it have proved very challenging for school management in particular. School principals and boards of management have found themselves on the frontline in having to manage a fraught and difficult situation. It has fallen to school mangers to deal with much of the fall-out in terms of parental and student reaction as well as attempting to adopt an even-handed approach to all sides.

Management is concerned for the wellbeing of both teachers and pupils. Without a profession that has high morale, high standards and teachers who are reasonably content, there is no future for our education system. On the other hand, we are concerned for the pupils and would prefer that the education of the pupils in our care not be disrupted in this manner.

Supervision and substitution

The issue of supervision and substitution has been brought into sharp focus as a result of this industrial dispute. However, the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) has been campaigning for years to have this problem dealt with and a resolution is necessary regardless of the industrial action that has taken place.

The issue has proved to be an extremely difficult one for school management over the years. In particular, the reliance on teachers to provide supervision and substitution for absent teachers on a voluntary basis is unacceptable in this day and age.

The ASTI has indicated that such voluntary duties could be withdrawn from next September. Teachers would teach according to their contractual obligations. This would also have the effect of banning participation in extra-curricular activities. Such a ban would be very detrimental.

Equally, the decision not to provide supervision and substitution on a voluntary basis will cause enormous difficulties for schools and particularly for school management.

Without proper supervision and substitution arrangements, it would not be possible for schools to ensure the health and safety of students in their care. In such a situation, it would not be possible for schools to operate. The JMB consistently argued last year that some form of paid supervision and substitution structure would have to be put on place in the event of industrial action.

We therefore urge the Minister and other Department of Education officials to put in place a properly resourced supervision and substitution framework in schools. Discussions on this are due to begin in May and we welcome the Department's decision to enter these discussions. However, the decision of the ASTI not to enter negotiations on the issue poses a serious difficulty. Nevertheless, in the interests of pupils, school management must attempt to do everything it can to ensure schools can operate from September.

Ideally, teachers are the best people to undertake the duties of supervision and substitution. This is work they have done voluntarily and have not been paid for.

School funding

The issue of adequate funding and proper resources for schools is an important and vital one for this association. Voluntary secondary schools are seriously under-funded in comparison schools and the other sectors.

In June 1999, the Blackstock report on the funding of second-level schools was presented to the Minister for Education and Science, Micheal Martin. In publishing the report, the Minister stated that the recommendations of the working group would inform future developments in relation to the funding of different schools.

This year's JMB conference, which starts tomorrow in Killarney, Co Kerry, will focus on the impact of Government policy on the day-to-day running of our schools. Many of the new initiatives and much of the legislation that has been introduced in recent years requires specific outcomes from schools. In this respect, the Department treats all schools equally - in other words, it requires the same objectives to be achieved and the same outcomes to result from schools in all sectors.

However, voluntary secondary schools do not receive the same input in terms of funding. They are, in effect, being asked to achieve certain goals with the equivalent of having one hand tied behind their backs. This is unfair and unacceptable.

The impact of policy change

Teaching is becoming a less attractive profession. There is evidence that fewer graduates are being attracted into teaching and it has become increasingly difficult to source substitute teachers. The JMB has highlighted this difficulty. We have called for a part-time rate to be increased. There is also a need to establish a national system of supply teachers. This would have the effect of offering the prospect of long-term employment to substitute teachers who may be put off by the short-term and episodic nature of the employment on offer.

It has often been difficult for schools to keep up with the myriad developments and reforms that have been the hallmark of our educational system in recent times. These changes have of course been necessary in many respects.

But changes and reform have a cost. They require resourcing and back-up - not in an episodic, sticking-plaster way, but in a planned, well thought-out and well financed way. This requires preplanning, consultation and putting a value on the experience and expertise of the practitioners. It requires real partnership. School management, through managers, boards of management and school principals, have a key role in much of this change. Their hard work and commitment has been central to the successful implementation of all of the new programmes.

Our schools are doing a fantastic job with what is available to them. They are preparing students to be well-rounded citizens of the state capable of making a valuable contribution to society and to the economy.

George O'Callaghan, a former school principal, is general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body, the group which represents managers of voluntary secondary schools. Their annual conference begins tomorrow in Killarney, Co Kerry.