Under the terms of rule 116 of the Rules for National Schools, teachers who wish to be granted study leave to attend a course for the following academic year must submit a completed application form, together with the syllabus of the course in question, to my Department. The sanction of study leave by my Department is subject to a number of conditions including the teacher receiving the prior approval of the board of management of the school in which the teacher is employed. The annual circular that is issued by my Department in relation to study leave also clearly states that it will be necessary for applicants to show that the course for which they are seeking leave of absence is demonstrably relevant to teaching in the primary sector. In this context, therefore, study leave is not an automatic right subject to the teacher receiving prior approval of his-her board of management but rather a facility that is extended to teachers who wish to undertake a course relevant to their teaching in primary schools.
In the case referred to by the Deputy, the teacher in question received the approval of her board of management and the appropriate documentation was submitted to my Department. The course that the teacher wished to undertake was a course in school guidance and counselling.
On examination of the submitted documentation a decision was made within my Department that this particular course is not regarded as relevant for the purposes of study leave under the terms of rule 116. The social, personal and health education – SPHE – programme in primary schools is an intrinsic part of the revised primary school programme and all teachers are qualified to implement this programme. However, there is no provision in primary education for the employment of guidance and counselling teachers and, consequently, the relevance of this course to the teacher's employment as a primary teacher was not demonstrated.
The teacher contacted my Department following a letter of 15 June that informed her of the decision to refuse the study leave. The teacher in question was informed that she could appeal the decision. In doing so she would need to establish why she considers that the course in question would be relevant to her work as a primary school teacher. My Department has just received such an appeal from the teacher in question and it will be given due consideration as a matter of urgency.
