THE 15,000 members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) have been asked by their union to sign a petition to protest against the exclusion of religious downed schools from the anti discrimination provisions of the proposed Employment Equality Bill and to seek amendment of the Bill.
Union officials spoke yesterday of the anger of many teachers that such schools will be able to claim exemption from the legislation and to discriminate against teachers in order to maintain their religious ethos.
The ASTI's view, as expressed in a letter from its general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, to the Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor, is that "a teacher who is upholding the ethos of a religious owned school should have the full protection of the legislation irrespective of the teacher's personal views or private life outside the school".