Class trips may be cancelled over ASTI action

Open days for prospective parents are being moved forward and class trips face cancellation because of the looming teachers’ industrial action at 500 second-level schools.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland directives, issued this week after members rejected the Haddington Road Agreement, include a ban on members taking part in after-school meetings. This extends to participation in information evenings for pupils and parents considering enrolling next year.

While many schools have already held theirs, a number have brought forward events planned for later next week or beyond to Monday or Tuesday to avoid the directive.

The Irish Examiner also understands a number of schools are looking at postponing or canceling field trips. The ASTI directive means teachers are no longer obliged to take classes of colleagues absent on school business, which could include Junior and Leaving Certificate classes going on geography field trips, visits to art galleries, or to see performances of plays they are studying.

The situation would leave school management trying to manage cover for absent teachers. However, the Department of Education has not yet told schools how to manage the situation when the action begins.

In a letter to ASTI president Sally Maguire, National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals president Kay O’Brien said the action has potential to disrupt already brittle school climates.

“The impact of such directives will be divisive, destructive of collegiality and diminish the capacity of schools to meet the needs of students,” she said.

An ASTI spokesperson said principals are covered by the directives in the same way as all teachers, and action has to be disruptive to be effective.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said the consequences for ASTI members could include compulsory redundancy. The possibility arises in schools with teacher numbers over official allocation, who would normally be redeployed to other schools.