Teachers warned they must deliver hours

Teachers risk losing the chance to narrow pay gaps for younger colleagues if they vote to stop doing extra work, the Department of Education has warned.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) annual convention voted last week that members should cease the extra 33 hours a year being delivered since 2011 under the Croke Park agreement — but the move would have to be approved by a ballot of all 18,000 members.

ASTI had accepted the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) which succeeded Croke Park, but convention delegates said that, with its expiry at the end of June, the requirement to do the extra hours should also end. Many said the hours are put to unproductive use on staff meetings rather than, for example, class preparations or corrections.