MINISTER FOR Education Batt O’Keeffe has accused teachers of widespread abuse of sick leave, especially on Mondays and Fridays.
His comments incensed teachers’ unions who were also accused by the Minister yesterday of “exaggerating’’ the impact of Budget cutbacks.
The Minister also accused the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) of exhorting parents to join their current campaign of protest. He said he had received protest letters even from children in fourth, fifth and sixth class in primary schools. “I wonder if that is appropriate,” he told the Dáil education committee.
The Minister’s various allegations provoked a strong response from the teacher unions.
The INTO accused Mr O’Keeffe of misleading the public in relation to teachers’ sick leave. The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI)said the Minister was an increasingly isolated figure, engaging in a “blame game” as he attempted to defend the indefensible.
Mr O’Keeffe revealed that the teacher substitution regime was costing over €180 million per year. Figures released yesterday show the department paid for over 12,000 uncertified substitution days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays last year.
The figures cover both primary and secondary schools. In a detailed presentation to the committee, Mr O’Keeffe referred specifically to the high cost of substitutions on Mondays and Fridays.
A spokesman for Mr O’Keeffe denied that the Minister was claiming widespread abuse by teachers. The Minister was putting the figures out there, he said.
INTO general secretary John Carr said there was clearly not a problem in relation to teachers’ sick leave. “According to the Minister’s figures, there was a total of 59,992 uncertified sick days. This works out at about one per teacher per year. “A total of 12,734 uncertified substitute days in the whole school year were used on Mondays. This works out at an average of 340 on any given Monday. It is just over 0.5 per cent of the teaching population.”
In another spat with the INTO, Mr O’Keeffe said the union had exaggerated the impact of the increase in class size, using terms like “Armageddon” and “apocalypse”. The reality, he said, was that the Budget reverted class size to 2006 levels when teachers and schools still managed to perform strongly. He said he was asking for the union’s co-operation “at a time when people in the private sector are losing jobs all over the place and when a lot of other people are taking pain”.
School managers have said the cutbacks in teacher substitution will leave them with no choice but to close schools from January. Yesterday, Mr O’Keeffe signalled that some compromise was still possible as he would be examining possible solutions proposed by the various education partners.
But he still needed to save €28 million from the substitution bill. Mr O’Keeffe acknowledged that schools faced real difficulties in January. “I am saying to the union: we are in dire straits, I need your flexibility.”
Breakdown of uncertified substitute days paid by day of the week – ie sick days without a doctor’s cert
Monday12,734
Tuesday12,139
Wednesday11,407
Thursday11,131
Friday12,581
Total number of days 59,992
The total cost of substitution cover in primary and secondary schools is €183 million.This includes €17 million in uncertified sick leave .
* Source: Department of Education and Science