Sir, – Thanks to Breda O’Brien (Opinion, December 9th) and Brian Fleming (Letters, December 13th) for highlighting the plight and damaging workload of school principals.
The education system relies heavily on school leaders to implement change and mandated reform, at both school and system levels. Yet many principals experience a one-way flow of responsibility and accountability, and feel decisions are being made without their input and without considering their workload or wellbeing.
The Deakin Report 2022 provided stark insights regarding the wellbeing and health of principals and deputy principals.
Two in three second-level principals and deputy principals are experiencing burnout due to stress, the survey stated. At 64 per cent, the figure is well ahead of the 34 per cent found in the general healthy working population.
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As many as two in five (39 per cent) were diagnosed with stress-related medical conditions in 2022. A further 61 per cent of National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) members said they believed current working conditions make the job of principal unsustainable.
In a survey by the National Principal’s Forum, 84 per cent of teaching principals surveyed had considered stepping down.
It also found that 70 per cent of principals reported mental health issues as a result of their job. Through an IPPN member survey, to which more than 1,000 school leaders took part, 97 per cent of the respondents report that the key issue that undermines the sustainability of their leadership role is the number of tasks and responsibilities that have little or nothing to do with their core purpose.
Many principals decry a skewed focus on tasks relating to administration and managing the organisation but a significantly lesser focus on tasks and responsibilities in the area of leading teaching and learning, which is central to the core purpose of school leadership.
The results of these surveys are stark but they are not new, nor are they contested by the Minister for Education. Instead, the Minister and her department have adopted a “head in the sand” mentality regarding the issue.
What is even more baffling is how she thinks she is going to get the big ticket items like senior cycle reform across the line without strong, sustainable and supported school leadership. School leadership is a critical part of the investment formula for our schools.
The Minister would do well to remember this and act quickly before it is too late. – Yours, etc,
JOHN McHUGH,
Principal,
Ardscoil Rís,
Dublin 9.