Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
228. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the number of middle management positions in primary schools which were removed or scaled back during the austerity years that have been reintroduced per county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18804/23]
View answer229. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the number of middle management positions in secondary schools which were removed or scaled back during the austerity years that have been reintroduced per county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18805/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 228 and 229 together.
Budget 2017 allowed for the commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model and meant lifting the rigidity of the long-standing moratorium on these posts. The equivalent of approximately 1,300 middle management posts (Assistant Principal I and Assistant Principal II) were restored at both Primary and Post-Primary level. (2,600 in total)
The Department has committed to annually revising the allocation of Posts of Responsibility to take into account retirements during the school year which has ensured that the current level of Posts of Responsibility (PORs) are maintained in the school system. New POR threshold tables are produced each year to distribute these POR’s equitably across all school.
The Sectoral Bargaining process under Building Momentum for the primary sector has been used to increase posts of responsibility (POR) in primary and special schools by 1,450 posts. The distribution of these additional posts of responsibility are comprehended in Circular 0043/2022 available on the Department’s website.
Since the commencement of the restoration of these posts at Post-Primary, there has also been an increased allocation in respect of Deputy Principal posts with over 450 additional posts allocated to schools. In the 2021/22 school year, the enrolment threshold for the allocation of an additional deputy principal in DEIS post-primary schools was reduced from 700 to 600 pupils. These additional posts provide resources to focus on leadership and management in our schools.
This recognises the key role school leadership has in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive and accountable.
At second-level, currently one in three Post-Primary teachers hold an API/APII post within schools and there are 727 Principals and 992 Deputy Principals.
In the Primary System, almost 16,000 teachers have a promotional post (Principal, DP API, APII) resulting in two in five (40%) of primary teachers holding a Management and Leadership position in our schools.
The information requested by the Deputy is not available on a county basis.
