Representation on the points system commission will be one of the hottest issues up for debate later this week in Galway when over 200 delegates of the Secondary Schools Principals' Association of Ireland meet for their annual conference. "We are the people who are dealing with the pressures of the points system when the results come out, we are at the coalface," says SSPAI president Michael McCann.

"It's disappointing and anomalous that principals are not included and that it was not considered necessary to appoint them to the commission."

The SSPAI principals will also be voting for further discussions to introduce more improvements to the internal monitoring during the marking of the Certificate exams. And, says McCann, a motion calling for in-service courses within a specified time slot will also be put forward. "Something is going to have to be done about in-service courses," he says. "They cut in on teaching time."

Another motion likely to meet with total support is that principals with 10 years service be allocated an ex-quota assistant principal post of responsibility with the school's seniority listing, should he or she wish to revert to a teaching position in the school.

The SSPAI wants the issue of student supervision during non-timetable hours dealt with urgently. "It's particularly important in country schools, where you have buses arriving before school starts and collecting the students at 5 p.m.," says McCann.