Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2015
551. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on reducing the threshold for the appointment of administrative principals in primary schools to 170, 160 and 150 pupils; the cost of reducing the threshold for administrative principals to 170, 160, and 150 pupils; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26269/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing arrangements for the 2015/2016 school year are set out in Circular 0005/2015 which is available on the website. Under the published staffing arrangements for the coming school year a principal teacher attains administrative status on a minimum enrolment of 178 pupils (Principal plus 7 classroom teachers) on 30 September 2014. The cost of adjusting this arrangement to 173 pupils (Principal plus 6 classroom teachers) is estimated to be of the order of €1.5 million per annum, while the cost of reducing the threshold to 145 pupils (Principal plus 5 classroom teachers) is estimated at a cost of €10.5 million per annum. I am aware of the workload issue and the pressures on Principals teachers. My Department has done work at helping to ease the administrative burden on school principals. The development and introduction of the primary online database is a significant step forward in this regard. A further step forward was the recent publication of Department Circular 0033/2015 which updates and simplifies the manner in which primary schools can maintain pupil enrolment and attendance records following the introduction of the primary online database. Economic constraints and the moratorium on recruitment albeit alleviated to some extent for schools, have presented challenges within the education sector. They also provide an opportunity to review the role of the principal so that our principals are leaders of learning, and to reconfigure the middle management structure to support principals in their role, ensuring ownership of responsibility rather than tasks, thereby building expertise and supporting a career path within the profession. The Department, in consultation with the representative management bodies has commenced an exploration of the opportunities to support and thereby advance our understanding of the needs of school leaders and how they might be addressed.
