I am concerned that there soon could be further disruption in second-level classrooms arising from the possible withdrawal of supervision and substitution by teachers. The issues are clear but their solution seems fraught with needless difficulty and may affect those whose interests should be uppermost in everyone's mind, the students and their parents.
During the dispute last year involving the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland, the issue of supervision and substitution came to the fore. The Labour Court, in clarifying its findings on that pay claim, accepted that the issues in relation to supervision and substitution were complex and required detailed discussions between the three teacher unions, the school management bodies and my Department.
The Government negotiators entered into these discussions in an open and constructive manner during the summer. A proposal was developed between all the parties, including the ASTI, and a final offer was agreed and formally put to the teacher unions on 28th September.
This offer accepted the teacher unions' demand that involvement by teachers in supervision and casual substitution for absent colleagues would be voluntary. My Department will provide funding for supervision and substitution on the basis of a minimum of 37 hours per school year per teacher. This is in addition to the existing substitution arrangements and will cover absences for uncertified sick leave, approved absences on school business and the supervision requirements of the school.
Detailed proposals were made in relation to post-primary schools. On the basis of these proposals, teachers will contract to deliver a minimum of 37 hours supervision and substitution over the course of the school year. This will cover both the substitution and supervision requirements of the school.
However, if the need for supervision and substitution cover in a school is not met, teachers may volunteer for additional duties up to a maximum of 49 hours per school year.
A rate of £27 per hour is on offer for any work undertaken by teachers under this scheme. This rate compares more than favourably with the highest rate for overtime in any part of the public service. This is work which teachers previously carried out voluntarily for no pay.
Teaching is a valuable profession and I am taking steps to enhance its standing. I have established the Teaching Council to regulate the qualifications, registration, induction and continuing professional development of teachers. I am setting up a Commission on Education and Learning to carry out a root-and-branch examination of all aspects of teaching and learning in Ireland. This will shape the development of our education system for the first decades of the 21st century.
Detailed proposals on supervision and substitution are being worked out with the Irish National Teachers Organisation, taking into account the different operating requirements in primary schools.
The Teachers Union of Ireland has submitted the £27 an hour offer to a ballot of their members.
However, the Central Executive Committee of the ASTI, setting aside the advice of its own standing committee, decided not to submit the Government's offer to their members. Instead, they decided to ballot their members on a recommendation to withdraw completely from supervision and substitution duties.
Given the nature of the offer made and the level of payment offered, this action by ASTI in not even allowing its membership to express a view on it through a vote is deeply disappointing and will cause great anxiety to students and their parents. These are the same students and parents who suffered so much through the difficulties of last year.
The rate of £27 per hour in addition to normal pay is generous and must surely be attractive to people who previously carried out this work voluntarily and without remuneration.
Given the teacher unions' position that involvement in supervision and substitution duties must be voluntary and that teachers may opt in and out of these duties on a year-to-year basis, these allowances would not be pensionable. The ASTI has also complained that the offer was not set out in sufficient detail. ASTI negotiators were fully aware of all the details. However, any clarifications required can be supplied at any time and officials in my Department are willing to meet with any ASTI delegation to provide such clarification.
I would urge all ASTI teachers to consider the offer as a reasonable proposal. On the wider pay front, the Government has paid teachers all the increases under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. In addition, the Public Service Benchmarking Body is now well into its work programme and its final report will be available in June, 2002 As already agreed, the Government is committed to paying 25 per cent of any increase arising from the Benchmarking process, with effect from December 1st, 2001. I don't need to detail the stark realities that now flow from the radical changes which have been brought about in global economic conditions by recent events. Their impact has been felt most severely by those who have lost their jobs or had their incomes reduced in companies which have retrenched operations to meet changing economic circumstances.
The Government's offer to teachers is fair and generous. At the very least, it merits full consideration by the members of all teacher unions.
Dr Michael Woods is Minister for Education