The prospect of renewed disruption in secondary schools in the new school year resurfaced last night with a warning from principals about major problems with a new scheme for supervision/substitution, write Emmet Oliver and Sean Flynn, Education Staff.
The principals warned that some schools might not open in September, while others might only operate on a reduced basis. They claimed that the new scheme for supervision was "flawed" and that schools had not been given enough time to train and recruit people to do the work.
The Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) is maintaining a ban on its members doing such work, despite an offer of €37 per hour from the Department of Education. This means that hundreds of secondary schools have to find others to perform the tasks.
The principals' group, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), met on the issue last night and afterwards issued a strongly worded statement. It said principals viewed with "grave disquiet" the timescale involved in the supervision/substitution scheme.
"In the likely event that ASTI members will not participate in supervision and substitution, principals will then be required to advertise, interview, recruit, train and seek Garda clearance for the proposed appointees," it said.
NAPD president Mr Ger Looney said this was asking a lot of principals who were already laden down with other work. "We have major questions about whether this can happen or not," he said.
The NAPD said "flexibility" would be needed. This could include schools postponing opening their doors until proper supervision arrangements were in place.
However, Mr George O'Callaghan, of the Joint Managerial Body, which represents boards of management, said everything was being done to make sure all schools opened on time.
Principals and deputy principals are furious with the failure of the Department of Education to compensate them for the additional work required to implement the contingency plan. One source said last night: "The feeling is that the Department has some cheek. They failed to pay up for contingency plan one and now they demand our co-operation with plan two."
A survey by the NAPD, released yesterday, showed that 18 per cent of schools experienced serious disciplinary problems during the operation of the contingency plan in the last school year.