The 900 or so assistant principals and the hundreds of special duties teachers who retired this school year have not been replaced, following a hiring moratorium imposed by the Government on the filling of vacant promotion posts. 

The Government's aim was to save the additional €8,520 paid to an assistant principal and €3,769 paid to a special duties teacher. 

Initially, the unions agreed to allow school management to share the duties of vacated posts among the remaining holders of promotion posts. Now however, in a major escalation of their protest campaign, the ASTI and the TUI have directed members not to undertake any of the duties attached to the vacated promotion posts.

The directive tells members: “lest there be any confusion, this directive means that the duties of a vacated post will no longer be carried out by any member. The facility whereby a school can reorganise posts of responsibility is also being suspended.”

Duties of promotion post-holders include:

• Arranging exams.
• Setting timetables.
• Organising extra-curricular activities such as games.
• Taking responsibility for pastoral care teams to look after the welfare of students.
• Co-ordinating Transition Year or Leaving Certificate Applied issues.

Clive Byrne, Director of the National Association of Principals and Deputies, described the directive as a serious escalation which would have cumulative effects on the operation of schools.

Ciaran Flynn, from the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools, said some intervention was needed "before the chaos arising out of such a directive is foisted on our schools". 

General secretary Ferdia Kelly said schools that lost a significant number of assistant principals would become “inoperable” in the autumn.

A survey by the Joint Managerial Body shows that secondary schools are losing an average of 3.25 assistant principal posts between this year and last year. Moreover, an unusually large number of retirements are predicted for autumn 2010 due to changes in the way that teachers get lump sums and pension entitlements.

Michael Moriarty, general secretary of the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), warned that a crisis could flare up before the autumn if schools lost assistant principals due to maternity leave or illness or for some other such reasons.

ASTI general secretary John White said “if the government persists in not replacing people who have these positions, there will be a major problem in September".

"I would certainly hope that between now and September, the government - and indeed all of the public service unions - can resolve this matter," he added.

A spokesperson for Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe said there were no plans to end the moratorium. Industrial action would do nothing to advance the interests of the country at a time of serious economic difficulty, he added.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes has exhorted the Government to "start negotiating with the unions around the issue of management posts”.

“A new way needs to be found that allows schools to deliver management," Mr Hayes says.

"Previously, I called for measures to be put in place to allow schools to have control of their own Budgets and allocate the ‘block sum’ where they see fit.

"Currently, the Department of Education decides centrally how schools can allocate their cash but, as seen with the numbers of assistant principals retiring, this is not working.

"Alongside this, the Minister could issue a directive specifying a ‘floor’ below which schools cannot lose any further posts and this must be considered." (Sources: Irish Independent, RTE, Midlands Radio, FG)