Croke Park hours a ‘detention for teachers’, says ASTI

The additional 33 Croke Park hours have been described by the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) as a "detention for teachers".

ASTI president-elect Ed Byrne highlighted how 68 per cent of teachers had voted “to rid themselves of the Croke Park hours”, describing the hours as “totally unproductive and nothing to do with teaching and learning”.

ASTI members voted by 68 per cent to 32 per cent to stop working the 33 Croke Park hours that have been used in general for meetings in schools and with parents.

“One of the first things the Government said they are going to do is stop supervision and substitution money,” said Mr Byrne on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

“ASTI have given supervision and substitution free of charge for the past three years. We expect that money back. It is not linked to the 33 hours.

“It is because they are imposed not because they are onerous - because they are detention for teachers. Teachers always gave that time. I have never walked out of a parent-teacher meeting early, regardless of the time.

The ASTI’s decision to withdraw from working 33 additional hours per year is expected to lead the Government to impose financial penalties that could cost teachers up to €6,000 per year.

The union has warned that any action taken against its members will lead to a ballot for industrial action in schools.

The first penalty that members of ASTI are likely to face is losing about €800 in pay that was scheduled to be incorporated into their salary for September for carrying out supervision in schools.

Increments will also be frozen for ASTI members, though the effect of this measure may not take effect for several months.

In a statement last night, a spokesman for Minister for Education Richard Bruton said he was “concerned at the implications for individual teachers and the implications for major disruption for students and schools from September if the ASTI proceeds with the proposed action”.

ASTI president Máire Ní Chiarba said teachers believed the Croke Park hours were unproductive and had a negative effect on students’ education.

She said the ballot result – based on a ballot turnout of 76 per cent – was a strong statement from members to the Government that they were determined to reclaim their terms and conditions following years of cuts and reduced resources.