TUI wants VEC Act before local elections

Angry TUI members will urge the Minister for Education & Science, Micheal Martin, to table an emergency Bill to give statutory representation to teachers and parents on vocational education committees at a meeting in Dublin this Thursday.

The union is worried that legislation to ensure this representation will not be passed before next summer's local elections when new appointments to the committees by the local councils take place. A significant majority of VECs are currently made up of elected representatives. According to the TUI, two-thirds of all VECs have no teacher or parent representative.

"The TUI protests in the strongest possible terms and demands that a short amending Bill be tabled immediately to provide for statutory teacher/ parent representation," says Joe Carolan, president of the union. Along with Jim Dorney, the union's general secretary, and John MacGabhann, the union's vice president, he will urge the Minister at the meeting on Thursday to bring legislation before the Dail to be passed before the June local government elections next year.

"This is an important democratic representation issue," says Carolan. "We are outraged and we demand action."

In the Dail last month, Eamonn Gilmore, Democratic Left's education spokesman, asked if publication of the Vocational Education Bill was to be brought forward. According to the Government's list, the Bill, which is supposed to reform the vocational education committees, will not be published until the end of 1999 By then, the committees will already have been appointed. "Are there any plans to bring forward the publication of this Bill?" Gilmore asked in the Dail.

The TUI accepts that some VEC committees will have teacher/parent representation. However, "it won't happen in a number of cases", points out Jerry Fitzpatrick, TUI training and information officer - and, if it does, it will be a discretionary appointment. The union wants statutory representation

The Murray Report, published in October 1996, looked at the rationalistation of VECs. It recommended that membership should comprise seven public representatives, three parents/gaurdians of students, three teaching staff, one clerical/administrative member of staff, three nominees of the local economy and trade unions and three nominees of the voluntary and community group.

It also recommended that such committees of 20 members each could coopt up to two further members to ensure representation for significant minority groups.

The TUI's demand for emergency legislation is backed by the Parents Association for Vocational Schools and Community Colleges.

A Department spokesman said yesterday that VEC's will have to abide by the legislation when it is passed. The Minister will be consulting with all the local authorities before the June elections to ensure that they all have parent and teacher representation, he said.

"The Minister is committed to having parents and teachers involved at all levels. One of the difficulties is that there is a whole legislative programme in train. There's a peckng order. The main concern is the Education Bill."