This article is from page 2 of the 2006-04-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
NUMEROUS teaching principals in County Clare have resigned their position of responsibility and returned to teaching full time, due to what the INTO has described as lack of government support.
Clare representative on the Central Executive Committee of the INTO, Declan Kelleher, told The Clare People that teaching principals are among the most exploited group of workers in the entire public service.
Later today, the Corofin teacher will highlight the plight of the teaching principal when he addresses the annual primary teacher’s union conference, held this year in Killarney.
“So callous is the disregard of principals by the Department of Education and Science that they must be accused of denying proper health and safety standards to primary principals. Many principals are suffering damage to their health, because they are being allocated a workload which cannot be carried out without the required infrastructure,” he said.
The Clare INTO representative pointed to developments such as the Education Act, Education Welfare Act and the revised primary curriculum, summer work schemes and devolved grants as some of the extra responsibilities landing on school principals’ overcrowded desks.
The average number of applicants for a teaching principal position is now down to two from 10.
The INTO representative claims the added responsibility, without remuneration or appropriate infrastructure, is the root cause of the unpopularity of the job.
“Likewise, how can it be logical to acknowledge that at 179 pupils a school will have an administrative principal with 183 days to administer the school, whilst the principal in the school of 178 pupils has only 22 days substituted cover per annum provided for her or his administration time,” he added.
The Clare branches of the INTO will also highlight difficulties with class sizes during the week-long conference, amid claims from delegates that the Minister for Education has discriminated against small and medium-sized primary schools.
Under new Department of Education regulations, a 15-teacher school can expect a reduction of nine pupils on the staffing schedule, but at eight teachers there is only a drop of one.
“Obviously the minister feels that there is no class size problem in small and medium-sized primary schools. Rural schools feel totally frustrated and let down by this minister for education,” said Mr Kelleher.