Children ‘pawns’ in teachers dispute

A parents’ leader called on the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) to cancel industrial action that could see over 500 schools shut for most of next month.

The union’s announcement last night that its 18,000 members will not do supervision and substitution work after the Halloween mid-term break followed a Department of Education plea not to begin such action until it had time to hire replacement staff.

With at least seven weeks needed by schools to hire people for the duties and complete Garda vetting, it may be four weeks later after the November 7 deadline before staff are in place to avoid schools having to close on safety grounds.