THE MINISTER for Education has appealed to second-level teachers to lift their ban on out-of-hours parent-teacher meetings.
Batt O’Keeffe appealed to the “common sense” of most teachers who recognised the ban was causing great inconvenience for parents and was placing a fresh burden on them at a difficult time.
Both the ASTI, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, and the TUI, the Teachers Union of Ireland, have directed members not to attend after-hours meetings with parents.
The move has sparked a furious reaction from the National Parents Council post-primary. The council says the move will inconvenience working parents.
Secondary teachers were paid for a series of productivity concessions – including out-of-hours parent-teacher meetings and a common school year – as part of the last national pay deal.
There is little sign that the ASTI will lift the ban, despite the increasing pressure. The issue was not discussed at last weekend’s meeting of the 180-member ASTI central executive.
Parent-teacher meetings are scheduled over the coming weeks in most schools, Junior and Leaving Cert classes. Principals say many parent-teacher meetings will have to be rescheduled because of the latest ASTI move.
The issue is set to be discussed at the annual conference of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, which begins in Galway tomorrow.
Under the Sustaining Progress process, teachers received additional payments for a series of concessions on productivity. These included new arrangements for three parent-teacher meetings between 4.15pm-6.45pm a year.
Teachers have received six productivity payments and a cumulative 14 per cent pay increase since January 2004.
However, the ASTI says the Government has breached the current pay deal and members are furious about the combined impact of the pension levy, cuts in the supervision and substitution scheme, and the promotion ban.
