Principals call for better State guidance

PRINCIPALS have told the Education Department that they need more assistance and guidance to design the growing number of policies which schools are legally required to adopt.

The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) said the publication by Education Minister Mary Hanafin of five templates to help schools formulate policies on important issues such as bullying, drugs and safe internet use is a welcome step towards easing the workload faced by its members.

But NAPD director Mary McGlynn said these templates need to be amended regularly to keep schools up to date with new legal requirements.