School managers to tackle Coughlan on promotion ban

TÁNAISTE Mary Coughlan faces pressure from angry school managers today to explain how she will ease restrictions on promotions that are restricting services for students and overloading principals with extra work.

She is due to address 400 principals and management board chairpersons of second level schools at their conference in Kilkenny, more than three weeks after announcing to a teacher union conference that she will introduce measures to help schools worst affected by the ban on middle management promotions ban in place for over a year.

Ferdia Kelly, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body which represents the management of 392 religious-run secondary schools, said the effects of the moratorium are by far the biggest issue of concern to delegates as they expect the crisis to deepen significantly when hundreds more post-holders retire during the summer holidays.

“Unless action is taken in time for the start of the next school year, major difficulties will arise as principals cannot continue to carry an impossible workload trying to undertake their own posts and covering for the roles left vacant as a result of the moratorium on filling posts of responsibility,” he said.

The jobs which schools cannot fill are assistant principals and posts of responsibility, whose duties can include year head, exams secretary, or coordinator of special needs and academic programmes or health and safety.

While Mr Kelly appealed to the Education Minister to lift the ban on filling vacancies entirely, her spokesperson said last night that her officials were still in discussions with the Department of Finance on how pressure might be alleviated for some schools. However, it is expected that only those with high proportions of vacant middle management posts will be given sanction to make the appointments, that come with allowances of €3,769 for posts of responsibility and €8,520 for assistant principals.

Mr Kelly said he is aware of schools where all middle management posts are unfilled, meaning the principal and deputy principals must carry out the functions of retired colleagues.

The situation has been made more difficult for school managers by a directive from second level teacher unions since early March that means holders of other posts of responsibility can no longer move roles. However, it remains unclear if the unions would end those bans for members without a full lifting of the promotion moratorium.

Mr Kelly said the Government must recognise that a recession is no excuse for removing an essential source of support for students.