Senator O'Toole confined his remarks on the job-sharing scheme for teachers to the primary sector. I will take this opportunity to deal with job-sharing in the whole teaching profession. I have interesting things to say. Senators may not be totally happy with my remarks but I think the House will be satisfied that some progress has been made.
The term job-sharing is generally used to describe an arrangement between two or more workers who decide on a voluntary basis to share the responsibilities of one full-time job. They share the pay and benefits between them, proportionate to the hours each works.
My Department has had a job-sharing scheme for post-primary teachers under consideration for some time. Discussions have already taken place with the three management and two union bodies at post-primary level in relation to a draft pilot scheme I hope to introduce in the 1993-94 school year. As a result of these discussions, a revised draft was circulated to the interested parties last week and a further meeting is planned within the next two weeks with a view to finalising the draft scheme.
The House will appreciate that the day-to-day running of a school is a matter for the school authorities. In the post primary sector, because of the number of different subjects on the curriculum and the element of choice available to pupils, timetabling is extremely important. This is one area which school authorities will have to consider in great detail before first deciding whether an application for job-sharing should be approved and then the attendance regime of the teachers concerned.
Introducing job-sharing in the teaching area is really entering unknown territory. We cannot be certain it will work in the classroom and Senator O'Toole acknowledged that. It is vital, therefore, that we tread warily. If agreement is reached, it is intended that a pilot scheme will operate in a limited number of secondary, vocational, community and comprehensive schools for a period of two years. The scheme will have to be closely monitored and at the end of the pilot period a decision will be taken on the future.
I was surprised that my Department has received relatively few inquiries from post primary teachers regarding job-sharing. Inquiries received to date suggest that women in particular are interested in job-sharing. The career break options may not meet their requirements in many cases.
In the case of primary schools, a proposal was made in 1991 by two teachers in a special national school in Dublin for a job-sharing arrangement. This proposal had the approval of the board of management of the school concerned and the support of the INTO. The arrangement was not proceeded with as one of the teachers involved took up a post in another national school. The teacher involved may not be sorry but I am sorry we have not that experience to build on when we move forward.
The proposal submitted at that time was examined by my Department and a number of practical difficulties were identified. These mainly related to the fact that a primary school class is usually in the sole charge of a single class teacher for all subjects. Without very careful management, sharing a class between two teachers could have disruptive effects on the education of the children. The question of the introduction of job-sharing was also raised by my Department with management interests. It was the view of the management that job-sharing might not be beneficial for the pupils and, for this reason, they did not favour its introduction.
My Department would be prepared to re-examine the question of job-sharing in national schools on receiving a formal proposal from the INTO. I would look favourably on the possibility of establishing a pilot scheme. As Senator Honan said, it is an area that is of particular interest to women. It also may give fathers a chance to take on a more parental role than they have hitherto. I look forward to the Senator's formal proposal.
The Seanad adjourned at 4.25 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 7 April 1993.