INTO refuses to work with untrained staff

EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn faces a race against time to deal with unqualified people being given teaching work after a union decided its members will be banned from hiring or working with them after the summer.

The effects on pupils of being in classrooms with almost 1,000 non-teachers who were given substitution work in primary schools since September were the subject of warnings from Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) delegates yesterday.

The consequences for thousands of unemployed teachers who have qualified in recent years was the subject of anger at all three teacher union conferences.

The creation of a two-tier pay and pensions system in which trained teachers are being forced out of limited substitution by unqualified people and retired teachers also drew anger from delegates at the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) convention in Cork and Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) congress in Tralee.

But the INTO presented the biggest challenge to Mr Quinn by bringing forward to September a ban on members working with unqualified people employed to teach, a policy previously due to commence in 2013.

The minister said last night that he has already discussed the possibility of “some kind of panel system” where qualified substitute teachers can be made available to fill pressing short-term gaps.

He said this would replace the need for unqualified people to be used in schools and his spokesperson said this structure could be in place towards the second half of the year.

He also said he hopes to pass legislation by September that would only allow untrained people to be employed by schools in very limited circumstances, although teacher unions reject any exceptions being made.

The operation of the INTO’s directive has yet to be decided by its executive committee, although union figures were confident last night that Mr Quinn’s willingness to consider setting up panels of substitute teachers could help avert any major disruption to schools in the autumn.

The new generation of teachers were described by many delegates as yellow-pack workers because of changes to their entry salaries, with the ASTI hearing of some being forced to seek help from charities in paying bills because they can’t even get work.

TUI and INTO delegates voted to take industrial action if the Government reneges on its commitment in the Croke Park agreement that there will be no compulsory redundancies or further pay cuts in the public service.