Speaking ahead of the ASTI annual convention, general secretary John White told the Sunday Business Post that, whatever the outcome of the forthcoming April budget, there were going to be worrying changes in second-level schools from September 2009.

Pupil-teacher ratio
As a result of the increase in the pupil-teacher ratio from 18 to 19, Mr White says:

• Classes will become more crowded;
• schools will lose teachers;
• temporary and part-time teachers will begin to emigrate when they cannot find full-time employment at home;
• the curriculum will be diminished as schools combine classes or drop subjects altogether;

‘‘If a school had 40 teachers and it now has 38, what are they going to do? Instead of having two Leaving Cert accounting classes - one higher and one lower - they will put the two in together," John White said.

"This is going to happen from September on.”

Preliminary analysis of an ASTI survey of members indicates that decisions to drop subjects are already being made - with music, chemistry and an additional foreign language, such as German or Spanish, the subjects most often mentioned.

Transition Year
As a result of the axing of a grant for Transition Year in the October budget, this option will be dropped by some schools, Mr White said.

Substitute cover
The suspension of substitute cover for official school business will lead to the curtailment of out-of-school activities such as sports and drama. Despite Minister O'Keeffe's concession of providing €2.7 million to cover some of the costs until the summer of this year, Mr White said that "out-of-school activities have diminished already".

"But they are going to come under horrendous pressure come September. The GAA, and the IRFU to a lesser extent, are worried about it,” he added.

Talks
White said he hoped that there would be a positive outcome to talks between unions and the government which restarted last week, resulting in the cancellation of a national strike due to take place on Monday, 30 March.

However, from Tuesday 31 March teachers are to continue with a work-to-rule which will involve non-attendance at school development planning meetings and parent/teacher and staff meetings held outside school hours.

‘‘Teachers feel that, with the education cuts affecting the classrooms, they should concentrate on their core duty - which is classroom teaching, rather than meetings. That’s the logic behind that,” said Mr White.

White acknowledged that the public attitude was changing and, with the increase in unemployment, the anger that followed the October budget had probably moderated.

‘‘Those who are in the public service and have permanent, pensionable jobs are coming to a realisation that there are people out there far worse than them,” he said.

‘‘I think the key to this economic crisis is having a job - if you have a job, you can survive.

"Your standard of living will be diminished, but to lose your job is the most damaging thing to a person."

Teachers know there will be both public sector cuts and increased taxation and will not be selfish, he said.

‘‘Teachers live in communities where neighbours and members of their own families and former pupils are not able to get work. They are aware that the public service is going to have to bear some of the burden of the economic crisis, but ... the perception is that the crisis is not being dealt with fairly - and that is a major problem,” Mr White said.

He pointed out that the National Competitiveness Council had recently stated that the way out of the crisis was through the development of knowledge industries and the smart economy, and these are dependent on education.

While Minister Batt O'Keeffe is "a very decent man", he is "too willing to do the bidding of the Department of Finance", Mr White said.

"We feel that Education should be able to persuade Finance that education has a central role in getting us out of the crisis.”

Referring to the forthcoming ASTI convention in April, Mr White said that Minister O'Keeffe would receive a polite and courteous reception, as is the norm with all guests. However, he was not likely to receive many rounds of applause. (Source: Business Post)