EDUCATION:CHILDREN COULD be sent home from school and extracurricular activities like sport and drama face cancellation as Budget cuts bite, teachers warned yesterday.
The INTO said the Budget decision to withdraw substitute cover for uncertified sick leave could see children being sent home from next January.
Secondary school managers called the new cuts in substitution cover a "recipe for chaos''.
Last night a spokesman for Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe said it has been necessary to make hard choices given the economic backdrop to the Budget. "The Minister fully realises that the changes regarding substitution will present particular challenges in the day-to-day management of schools.''
It is estimated that about €30 million will be saved as a result of the new arrangements for substitution cover.
Yesterday, Ferdia Kelly of the joint managerial body (JMB) representing a majority of second- level schools, said there was now the prospect of "serious disruption to the teaching and learning process in schools in January''.
Scores of school principals contacted teacher unions and school management groups yesterday to register their alarm over the Budget changes in substitution cover. One senior figure said: "I have never seen a response like it. There is real anger out there.''
From next January, school principals can only employ a substitute when a teacher provides a medical certificate. Until now, teachers could have three days' uncertified leave with a substitute teacher provided.
The Budget measures also mean a ban on substitution cover for teachers on official school business.
Mr Kelly said this will lead to a serious reduction in co-curricular activities. "No teacher will be available to replace a colleague taking groups of students out to matches, field trips and so on,'' he said.
The INTO's John Carr said the decision to withdraw substitute cover will heap further hardship on parents already struggling to balance home and school responsibilities.
"With classes already packed to overflowing, splitting up classes will not be an option in most schools. Putting an extra five or six children into a class of 35 when a teacher is absent is neither fair nor reasonable in today's world.'' The only alternative for schools to consider, he said, is sending children home when a teacher is ill.
The JMB said the department clearly expects principals and deputy principals to look after classes where no teacher is available to act as a substitute. "Such a prospect is simply not acceptable as the workload of the principal and deputy principal is already at breaking point."
The current supervision and substitution scheme was introduced in schools five years ago after the prolonged ASTI dispute. This was constructed on the basis of an agreement to provide substitution for uncertified sick leave.
The JMB is seeking an urgent meeting with the department to reverse what it calls "this unacceptable and unworkable proposal".
