A HARD act to follow - that's how George O'Callaghan, the recently appointed general secretary of the Secretariat of Secondary Schools, describes his predecessor, Brother Declan Duffy, who has retired. "He was more than 20 years in the post," says O'Callaghan. "He had enormous influence in educational circles and was held in great esteem."

O'Callaghan too has spent over two decades in education, first teaching in CBS, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, before moving to St Nessan's Community College, Limerick. In 1989 he was appointed principal of the 600 pupil, co educational St Mary's Secondary School in Newport, Co Tipperary. A native of Co Clare and a UCC graduate, he took up his new job last August.

The Secretariat of Secondary Schools is the executive arm of the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) which represents the interests of the country's 470 Catholic and Protestant voluntary second level schools. It is core funded to the tune of £60,000 by the Department of Education and also by subscriptions from schools.

The secretariat's brief is wideranging. Its task is to advise schools on a range of matters including management, industrial relations and discipline. It represents the interests of secondary schools in negotiations with the Department and negotiates with the teacher unions on behalf of school management. A member of IBEC, it is represented on both the NCCA and the NCVA.

An increasingly important aspect of the Secretariat's work is training. Back in the Eighties it first offered training programmes for school boards of management. Nowadays it also runs training courses for new principals, as well as leadership courses for principals, viceprincipals and other teaching staff.

Just now the biggest item on the Secretariat's agenda is its role in the negotiations on the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, O'Callaghan says. The negotiations of particular concern to educators revolve around the reorganisation of the middle management system in schools and involve the establishment of selection procedures for vice principals and post holders.

The White Paper on Education promises that qualifications and experience rather than seniority will be among the main criteria for such appointments. However, this has proved unpopular with teachers and the unions.

Despite recent reports that seniority will remain the major criterion for promotion to graded posts of responsibility, O'Callaghan is adamant that no agreement involving the JMB has been reached on this. He believes that effective middle management structures can be put in place only in voluntary secondary schools when post holders are appointed on merit rather than seniority.

"The JMB has not been a party to any such agreement (on seniority)," he says. "It has been proposed that the most senior suitable candidates be appointed to these posts after interview. We can't accept that. Our view is that the Department is reneging on its commitment in the White Paper."

O'Callaghan points out that since the Seventies the criterion for appointments in secondary schools has always been seniority. "We have not found that system to be effective in meeting the demands and needs of schools." Nowadays, he notes, any organisation worth its salt promotes on merit - even the Civil Service has dropped appointment by seniority.

White Paper proposals, including the development of a school plan and the production of an annual report, will fall within the remit of the principal, O'Callagahan says. Principals are already overloaded with responsibilities and are working without supports. As a result fewer people are applying for the job of principal and those who do are mostly men.

The JMB is also opposed to the proposal that a national panel of independent chairpersons for interview boards be set up. "This undermines and questions the fairness and impartiality of boards of management," O'Callaghan argues. "We maintain that boards of management should be trusted to conduct interviews in a fair and impartial manner. And we believe that such panels would be unworkable at a practical level. There wouldn't be a sufficient number of independent chairpersons available at crucial times when interviews are being conducted."

The huge amount of curriculum reforms, while welcome, have placed increased burdens on school management. Oral exams present schools with particular problems. Teachers are released to act as examiners at an important point in the Leaving Cert calender and schools have great difficulty in finding suitable substitutes.

"Orals take up to two weeks in - any given school and are very disruptive," O'Callaghan says. "We've proposed to the Department that teams of examiners go into a centre and conduct orals in one or two days." Similarly the increase in the number of practical exams, which take place in May, has reduced teaching time and effectively shortened the school year.

ANOTHER area of concern for the JMB is Whole School Inspection (WSI). "We are concerned that Department proposals seem to emphasise that WSI will concentrate on the inspection of the management of schools to the exclusion of the inspection of teaching in schools. We also wonder whether the Department has sufficient trained, staff to carry out these inspections.

On the issue of the forthcoming equality legislation, O'Callaghan says: "It's our view that parents who send their children to a denominational school have the right to expect teachers to promote the ethos of that school. If teachers have problems in their personal lives, schools will adopt a caring and Christian approach.