Teachers demand right to disconnect from ‘constant stream’ of emails, messages

Primary teachers are demanding a right to disconnect from the “constant stream” of emails, messages and phone calls outside the regular school day.

The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) annual congress in Killarney heard that some teachers are receiving messages from parents from as early as 6am until late at night.

Tuam-based teacher Siobhán Lynskey said teachers had gone out of their way to support children during the Covid-19 pandemic by working longer than their contracted hours. However, she said the erosion of switch-off time for principals and teachers has lingered since the return to in-school education.

“We need a legal code of practice on the right to disconnect. It is the right of an employee not to routinely perform work outside their normal working hours,” she said.

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“Such a right would give employees the right to switch off from work outside their normal hours and gives them the right to not respond immediately to emails, telephone calls or other communication.”

Many teachers also complained that Department of Education circulars and correspondence was increasingly arriving during evening time or holiday periods.

INTO general secretary John Boyle said there were increasing expectations placed on school leaders and teachers, including communications at school level and a "constant stream" of new procedures and initiatives, which is impacting on members' health and wellbeing.

‘Justifiable call’

“Our principals deserve the support they need to be leaders within their schools. This is an understandable and justifiable call considering the frustrations schools leaders have experienced over the last number of years. They’re grappling with never-ending administrative work and it’s getting worse,” he said.

Mr Boyle said the “debacle” of releasing a staffing circular on the first day of the Easter holidays this year had forced hundreds of principals to “scramble for special education hours to save teaching jobs in support of our most vulnerable pupils is a new low. This must never be repeated”.

INTO delegates backed a motion calling on the department to introduce a legally admissible code of practice on the right to disconnect from work which covers phone calls, emails and switch-off time.

Separately, the union voted to support calls for parent-teacher meetings to be held during the school hours.

Under so-called Croke Park hours - introduced under a public sector pay deal in 2011 - primary teachers are required to provide 36 unpaid hours in non-class activities such as staff meetings.

Flexibility

Dublin-based teacher Fergal Brougham told the congress that abolishing these hours would allow schools to have flexibility “to let gifted, fantastic teachers decide for themselves how best to use those 36 hours for the benefit of their pupils. The taking away of these hours will not affect the children in our care”.

The motion, adopted by delegates, calls on the union to “negotiate for the removal of Croke Park hours for staff and the return to provisions for staff meetings to be held during the prescribed school day”.

Delegates backed a motion to campaign to ensure a “fact-based” sex education curriculum is rolled-out to primary schools during the lifetime of the current Government.

In addition, the union called for the number of specialist language support teachers in the primary school system to be “urgently increased” to help meet needs of Ukrainian children.

Teachers said the current allocation of permanent EAL (English as an additional language) posts does not reflect the changing demographic of our schools.

The congress heard that with up to 20,000 Ukrainian children expected to enter the primary school system next year, there would be a “huge increase” in pupils requiring language support.