Schools could be forced to deal with teacher problems

SCHOOLS may be forced to deal themselves with under-performing teachers under controversial proposals from the Department of Education which has previously had responsibility in this area.

The revised procedures for dealing with such staff have been proposed in talks with teacher unions and school management bodies as part of a commitment in the Towards 2016 social partnership deal, under which new rules are due to be put in place from next September.

While personal difficulties and other factors affecting a teacher’s performance in class has traditionally been a matter for school boards of management, the proposals seek to hand over responsibility for monitoring teaching ability from the department’s inspectors to the principal and the board. This is likely to cause a stumbling block in negotiations which started at the Teachers’ Conciliation Council last week.