Schools are no longer able to provide minimum levels of supervision for post-primary pupils and risk legal action by parents, according to a confidential letter sent by school managers to the Department of Education. In the letter, obtained by The Irish Times, the State's three management groups request an "immediate" meeting with senior officials to discuss the supervision and substitution crisis at post-primary level.
The letter claims that because teachers are increasingly involved in "in-service development, education initiatives and extracurricular activities", the legally required levels of pupil supervision cannot be guaranteed.
It notes that health and safety legislation imposes a certain minimum level of supervision on schools and says a related problem, which could also be the subject of a legal action by parents, is the difficulty of employing substitute teachers to cover for absent teachers. It says this is due to "restrictive departmental regulations" and means schools "may not be able to deliver" the legally required level of education.
The groups say £6 million is required immediately to resolve the crisis and enable schools to provide adequate supervision of students "during morning break, during lunchtime and in situations where teachers are absent on school management approved leave". It says research shows that "a large number of schools have inadequate supervision at break and lunchtimes". Consequently, the letter expresses concern that school managements could be liable for not ensuring the safety of all pupils.
However, it adds: "If a case was brought to court it is likely that while school management would initially be liable, the Department of Education and Science would also be deemed to be liable in that there is no provision for the supervision of students during particular times in our schools." The letter was sent to an assistant secretary in the Department last week by the head of the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS), the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) and the Secretariat of Secondary Schools.
"There is a legal responsibility incumbent on school/scheme management to provide proper supervision for our pupils at all times and to discharge a duty of care and ensure the health and safety of our students," the letter says.
The three groups acknowledge the "tremendous voluntary contribution" of teachers to supervision but claim "continuous reliance on such goodwill is untenable".
"The voluntary nature of any provision in itself makes it an unsafe practice," it adds. It also says: "Even where teachers volunteer for supervision and substitution, if the teacher scheduled to supervise/substitute is absent on the day, the system collapses as there is no provision for replacement."
The three groups state that the drift of the Department's policy has been to target disadvantage, literacy and retaining students up to Leaving Certificate. It says while these initiatives are welcome, they do not "recognise the operational needs of schools".
The £6 million needed would cover four people asked to supervise lunch and morning breaks for the duration of the school academic year at a rate of £8.50 per hour. "It would be required that such ancillary staff be provided with a formal induction and training programme, the costs of which are included in the overall projection presented," the letter points out.
It concludes that "these matters are of extreme urgency" and says it looks forward to an "early meeting within the next week or so".
"The putting in place of these operational structures is long overdue in the context of the current climate in which schools are attempting to operate," it says.
The letter adds: "As managers, we share the Department's vision with regard to the system and we wish to place ourselves in a position to be able to implement those initiatives that will lead to system reform and improvement. We cannot do this, however, without at the very least the provision of those minimum resources outlined above."