JOBS MORATORIUM:THE GOVERNMENT moratorium on promoting teachers is having a significant impact on the running of schools and resulting in an increased workload for principals and deputy principals, according to the results of a survey of school principals carried out by the Teachers' Union of Ireland.
The survey of VEC and community and comprehensive school principals found that the public service moratorium – introduced in April 2009 by the Fianna Fáil/Green Party coalition – was having a significant impact on the ability of schools to address discipline and behavioural issues.
According to the survey, some 79 per cent of respondents reported that the non-filling of vacant positions had a high to medium effect on the ability of the school to address these issues, with some 46 per cent reporting a high impact, and a further 33 per cent reporting a medium impact.
TUI deputy general secretary Annette Dolan said the union estimated that, on average, VEC and community and comprehensive schools had lost 2.3 assistant principals and a further 2.3 special duty posts, as when such postholders retired, schools were unable to replace them.
Some 72 per cent of respondents reported that the loss of promotional posts had a high to medium impact on the provision of pastoral care and tutorial support, with some 34 per cent reporting a high impact in these areas and 38 per cent a medium impact , the survey found.
According to Ms Dolan, the survey also found that almost half, 49 per cent, of principals reported that their workload had increased by between four and nine hours a week, while 70 per cent of respondents reported that the workload of the deputy principal had increased by between four and 12 hours a week since the introduction of the moratorium.
Principal of Mannix College in Charleville, Kevin Whyte, said there was no doubt but that principals and deputy principals were working longer hours; and the principal of St Colman’s Community College in Midleton, Tom Hughes, said principals were giving over their own time to meet extra demands placed on them.
“Nobody runs an organisation without a middle-management structure,” he said, “and if you look at the advice from the Department of Education to principals . . . it’s that responsibility should be devolved to middle management. But how can you devolve responsibility to middle management if that layer is being removed?”
The survey was sent to 281 VEC principals and a further 91 community and comprehensive principals with a total of 102 responding, representing a response rate of 27 per cent. But Ms Dolan defended the response rate as sufficiently representative and denied that the figure reflected an apathy or demoralisation among principals.
Asked later about lifting the moratorium, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn ruled out any such move because of the state of the public finances.
