Teachers ‘worked’ at after-school sports
A Department of Education evaluation at Bishopstown Community School (BCS) in Cork found it had more than five teaching posts above what it should based on its 143 students when inspectors visited in March 2010. Enrolments there are down from around 300 students in the mid-1990s and 700 at its peak.
Second-level schools are allocated staff based on a formula of one teacher for every 19 students but BCS is one of 40 second-level schools with over-quota staffing because there has been no scheme to redeploy teachers from schools outside the vocational sector where student numbers are declining. However, under the Croke Park agreement, around 170 teachers in these schools can be moved to other schools with suitable vacancies within a 50km radius in September.
