Teacher training to go ahead despite union ban

Training of teachers and principals is going ahead in the coming weeks despite a union ban on most of them taking part.

The new curriculum is almost finalised for English, the first subject to be introduced for the new- look junior cycle, but the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland’s (ASTI’s) industrial action includes a directive that its 16,000 members should not co- operate with any training programme.

Details of the training will arrive in a letter from the Department of Education’s Junior Cycle for Teachers support service in 730 second-level schools and over 100 other centres from today.

The letter will confirm the training is to go ahead as originally scheduled before the ASTI action announced last month on foot of members rejecting the Haddington Road deal.

The continuous professional development (CPD) programme for school leaders, mostly principals and deputy principals, will start with the first of four workshops from Oct 21.

The plan is for teachers of English, almost 4,800 being registered by themselves or their schools, to begin a series of training sessions after the mid-term break in early November.

An ASTI spokesperson said the directive did not prohibit signing-up for information, but members would not be taking part in training.

“[This] will become an issue when it comes to implementation [of the junior cycle framework], which is based on this round of CPD,” she said.

Meanwhile, Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) school reps have been told not to give lists of members to school management or education and training boards, after reports that some had asked for the information.

The TUI said the department has confirmed that it did not, and will not, tell local management to ask for lists of union members.

Around 130 schools are staffed by members of ASTI and TUI, leading to uncertainty as to how the department can tell which teachers are subject to the Haddington Road deal, which TUI members voted to accept last month.

At the weekend, Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin made clear that Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has legal powers to stop paying ASTI members for supervision and substitution work because they are not signed up to the deal. TUI members must now do the work, unpaid but in return for salary increases in 2016 and 2017, as must primary teachers who are also signed up to the deal.

Mr Howlin said he hopes for talks with the ASTI but insisted there can be no changes to the agreement as next year’s budget calculations hinge on it.