Legislation granting temporary primary school teachers full-time rights without specialised qualifications could affect quality of learning in the classroom, the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) said today.
Seán Cottrell, director of the IPPN, said a teacher who has been working in a part-time or temporary capacity for four or more years in a school would now be entitled to full-time rights under the 2003 Protection of Employees Act.
"We would be deeply concerned about the likelihood that someone without a primary teaching qualification might be forced upon a school due to recent legislation protecting people's rights," he said.
"Naturally, it's something that they are entitled to have, but it is unacceptable and indeed unwise to appoint someone to a teaching role who would not be adequately qualified given that the implications for the quality of learning in the classroom would inevitably be jeopardised in the long term."
"It seems because of the new law, which is to protect workers' rights across the general workforce, a small number of teachers are fitting into this category and they are primarily secondary school qualified teachers who are perhaps very effective in the short-term sense but in our opinion, because they don't have the minimum qualification for primary teaching, it seems like a dangerous move," Mr Cottrell said.
The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) said there were 30 people, aided by a commissioner, working with schools to implement the fixed term act.
"There are only 55 teachers involved and they are fully qualified secondary teachers. They have been appointed in our schools for the last four years," John Carr, general secretary of the INTO, told RTÉ Radio.