Schools facing weeks of closures

Secondary schools will be closed for most of November and could close for seven days up to early December even if staff were found to cover duties being stopped by 18,000 teachers.

The prospect of the closures follows yesterday’s deliberations by the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) standing committee on how to deploy industrial action backed by four out of five members voting in the past month. The first strike date announced is Thursday, October 27, followed by six more on November 8 (Tuesday), 16 and 24 (both Thursdays), 29 (Tuesday), December 6 and 7 (Tuesday and Wednesday).

But if the dispute with Government is not resolved before the mid-term break ends on Friday, November 4, ASTI members’ withdrawal from supervision and substitution work the next Monday could lead to doors remaining closed for the following few weeks until schools have had time to hire people for the work and have them Garda-vetted.