Written Answers - Departmental Correspondence.
Joe Higgins
Question:
231
Mr. Higgins (Dublin West)
asked the
Minister for Education and Science
if his Department was responsible for drawing up the leaflet, Charting The Future of Education in Ireland, and sending it to members of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland; and if so, the total cost of this operation.
[14147/01]
Following the Labour Court recommendations and subsequent clarification, I became aware, through correspondence from and direct contact with individual teachers, that many teachers were not fully aware of the Labour Court's proposals and other recent developments. In particular, teachers seemed to be getting erroneous and misleading information on such issues as the operation of the public service benchmarking body and the benefits available to teachers under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. In these circumstances I considered it necessary to issue a factual leaflet to teachers on these issues. Senior Department officials and I prepared the leaflet, the full text of which is as follows:
The total cost of printing and design of the leaflet was £2,850.
Appendix 1. Charting the Future of Education in Ireland
Programme for Prosperity and Fairness: benefits for teachers
The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, in common with the national programmes which went before it, provides a coherent and sustainable approach to improving the economy and living standards while addressing wider social issues on an agreed basis of consensus.
What will teachers get under the PPF?
A cumulative total of some 22% including: 3% "Early Settlers" from 1 October 2000; 5.5% from 1 October 2000; further 2% from 1 April 2001; 5.5% from 1 October 2001; a once-off lump sum of 1% of basic pay on 1 April 2002; 4% from 1 October 2002.
The pay of teachers will be further increased by tax concessions of up to 10% over the period of the PPF. With effect from December 1 next, all teachers will benefit by 25% of an increase from the public service benchmarking body
Teaching Council
The Teaching Council, which will include a majority of teachers (22) in its membership, will provide teachers with a high degree of pro fessional autonomy and self-regulation. The council will enhance the professional status of teaching and the quality of Irish education. It will also give teachers an important input into policy development.
The Teaching Council will: set the appropriate education, training and qualifications required for the purposes of registration as a teacher; promote the continuing education and training of teachers and review and accredit programmes of in-service training; promote teaching as a profession; establish, publish and maintain codes of professional conduct; regulate the registration, induction and probation of teachers; advise on standards of entry and teacher supply; address disciplinary problems within the profession.
The Labour Court Recommendation
The Labour Court concluded that:teachers have asustainable case in relation to their claim that they have fallen behind other professionals in recent years and the court upholds part (iii) of their claim; the benchmarking process being used by other teacher and public service unions to measure the value of jobs and responsibilities can deal with the ASTI case that they have fallen behind other professionals; the issues in relation to parts (i) and (ii) of the ASTI claim have been addressed in national agreements by pay increases, tax concessions and by a number of special awards to teachers over the years; the court considered that the ASTI arguments in relation to their contribution to the success of the economy can be made by many other groups also.
The Labour Court recommended that: ASTI process their claim through the benchmarking process, noting, in particular, that: the benchmarking body will not be recommending on the introduction of performance related pay; it is a totally independent body presided over by a High Court Judge; it has a substantial budget and secretariat and independent research element and will be able to evaluate each case on its merits and on the basis of its research findings; 25% of any increase arising from benchmarking will now be paid with effect from 1 December 2001; the claim for an up-front payment should not be accepted as ASTI members have benefited from the PPF and "Early Settlers" increases amounting to 10.5% to date and increasing to almost 22% by 1 October 2002; the court's view is that these payments can be viewed as up-front payments; an expert review of education be undertaken involving all the partners in education and covering a wide range of areas including legal and management structures, developments in education, role of the teacher, teacher training and accreditation and support systems in schools and the terms of reference to be agreed between the partners and the review body to be in place by 1 June 2001; as a gesture of goodwill, pay should not be deducted for the five "days of action", that is, the days during which teachers withdrew from supervision and substitution, on acceptance of the court recommendation.
Following further discussions, the Labour Court clarified various aspects of its recommendation:Benchmarking: The Government has confirmed that:
–payment of one quarter of any increases recommended by the benchmarking body, due to be paid with effect from 1 December, 2001, will be made immediately on receipt of the body's report which is due in June 2002;
–negotiations on the balance will begin immediately the report is available with a view to agreeing the phasing of the further payments and
–issues in relation to past productivity could be addressed as part of the benchmarking process.
Review Body: The court recommends that:
–the body should report within six months of its establishment in June 2001 and
–as an immediate step, in recognition of the contribution which information technology can make to education, annual payments of up to £350 should be made to individual teachers towards the cost of vouched personal computer hardware and/or software relevant to their teaching responsibilities.
Supervision and Substitution:
–The parties propose to commence discussions immediately within the framework of the teachers' conciliation and arbitration scheme in order to have these matters resolved this summer.
Completion of this year's school programme: The court recommends that:
–appropriate arrangements be made to ensure that the current year's school programmes are completed for all students so that students affected by the dispute are not put at a disadvantage vis-à-vis other students and
–teachers who are certified by the school as having contributed to the completion of the school programme be paid a sum of £1,750, with appropriatepro rata payments for part-time teachers.
Proposed Education Review Body
In line with the recent Labour Court recommendation, the Government proposes to establish a high level expert education review body to carry out a wide ranging review of both primary and post-primary education, examining issues of relevance to the provision of education in Ireland today.
The Review Body will consider issues such as: the legal framework and management structures within which schools must operate; the support services available to schools and teachers; the role of the teacher, both in school and in a wider community context; the implications of developments in education and teaching for the professional development and ongoing training needs of teachers; issues surrounding the training and accreditation of teachers.
Proposals in relation to the terms of reference and membership of the review body or commission are currently being developed by the Department of Education and Science with a view to circulating and agreeing them with the relevant partners in education. It is envisaged that the review body will be established by June.
The Minister will be consulting in relation to its composition over the coming weeks. The commission will chart the future course of education in Ireland for the next generation.
