O’Keeffe suggests unpaid supervision by teachers

TEACHERS should provide unpaid supervision of classes when colleagues are away with students for class activities or sports matches, Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe has suggested.

The proposal would mean some second-level staff doing supervision duties voluntarily — while others are paid to do so for up to two hours a week, under a deal which helped resolve a secondary teachers’ pay dispute five years ago.

The situation has arisen from a budget cutback meaning the Department of Education will no longer pay for substitutes to cover teacher absences on school business, including important course work.