The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland is to ballot its 15,000 members for industrial action next month over low staffing levels. The ASTI general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, said yesterday the union had been "patient on this issue too long".
ASTI members would be returning to classes with over 30 teenagers, he said. "This is simply not acceptable at a time when we have the resources to deal with the issue and to offer the best possible education to our young people at second level."
The union had conducted a campaign "through political lobbying and through the media, seeking improvements in staffing levels. While this campaign had some success in achieving improvements in the number of teaching posts for remedial work and with the disadvantaged, there had been no general improvement in the appointment ratio.
"Rational argument has failed and we are now resorting to direct action in an attempt to get the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, to listen." Mr Lennon said recent research showed that 60 per cent of second-level schools had classes with more than the recommended maximum of 30 students for general subjects. Inadequate staffing meant that 30 per cent of schools had difficulty offering the full range of science subjects and 42 per cent had difficulty covering technical subjects.
Industrial action could begin in the second half of the autumn term if the ballot shows a majority support the call.