The ASTI teaching union has witnessed a significant decrease in its membership over the past three years, it has emerged.
By comparison, the TUI, its main rival in the sector, has seen a huge rise in the number of people applying to become members during the same period.
The ASTI, which represents the majority of second-level teachers here, had a total membership of 16,426 in December 2003, according to figures contained in its annual convention report. This represents a decrease of 847 on the total number of members of the union in December 2000, when it had 17,273 members.
It compares with an increase of approximately 2,273 members at the TUI over the equivalent period.The TUI estimates that its current total membership stands at 13,239.
While the TUI represents both second and third-level teachers here, sources at the union confirmed that a significant number of its new members are drawn from the second level sector. The fall in the ASTI membership coincides with one of the most turbulent periods in the union's history, when it was involved in a number of high-profile disputes.
It is currently said to be undergoing a process of renewal under acting general secretary, Mr John White, following the acrimonious departure of its former general secretary Mr Charlie Lennon last year. However, Mr White yesterday rejected any suggestion that teachers were leaving his union. There were, he said, a number of factors which influenced the decline in the numbers joining the ASTI.
These included the fall in the general school population, and the increase in the number of teachers working part-time.
"There have been people who have left the ASTI in the past couple of years. But there are others who have joined as well," he said. "There isn't in any sense a flight from membership [of the ASTI]." Another consideration, was the closure of a number of voluntary secondary schools. These were frequently amalgamated into community schools, meaning the ASTI no longer had exclusive recruitment rights to teachers in those schools, although it still represented the majority of teachers in the sector.
Mr White was speaking at an ASTI press briefing in advance of its annual conference in Killarney next week, where it also revealed details of a comprehensive survey of special needs requirements in second-level schools. This showed that up to 11 per cent of the student population at second level have special educational needs.
According to the ASTI, there is an urgent need for the Department of Education to conduct a census of special needs at second level, similar to one currently taking place in the primary sector.
The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, on Saturday said some schools were over-resourced when it came to special needs provision.