Teachers attending in-service courses continue to highlight the need for more support and back-up, says Bernadine O'Sullivan, vice-president of the ASTI. She says more teachers must be employed. The sight of teachers working though their lunch-break in staffrooms is common, she says.

New subjects and programmes which involve increased planning, organisation and documentation, are "extremely time-consuming," says O'Sullivan, who is incoming president of ASTI. "In every subject area there have been revolutionary changes in content and methodology."

She believes that more second-level teachers would give "the elasticity to our school system which is necessary if all our students and teachers are to be involved in a truly educational endeavour."

The new syllabi in schools call for different types of assessment, modules and project work, she explains. There is a strong emphasis on student-teacher interaction. She lists the increased workload of programmes such as Transition Year and the Leaving Cert Applied. "These programmes involve a huge amount of teacher preparation. The day of going into the classroom and working through a textbook is gone.

"One teacher compares the sheer busyness of school to a spinning top that is achieving ever-increasing momentum."

To date, over 20 topics have been explored during the current school year at ASTI inservice courses. "The overwhelming reaction to these seminars has been positive," says O'Sullivan, "with teachers committed to enabling students to realise their full potential."

However, she says that, to ensure the benefits of in-service are disseminated throughout the school population and to provide a solution to the issues raised, it's vital that more teachers be employed.