VECs have defended themselves against a claim that they ignore women when making nominations to the boards of third level colleges. The claim is contained in legislation drafted for the Minister for Education on new education boards.
The claim was an "appalling statement" which was "an utter of the truth", according to general secretary of the Irish Education Association Joe Rooney.
Ms Breathnach's legislation blamed the VECs for the problems experienced in obtaining a gender balance on RTC boards four years ago, Mr Rooney told the IVEA annual conference in "Newcastle, Co Down. A similar gender balance of 40 per cent women would apply for the proposed regional education boards. An explanatory note with the draft version of the Education (Education Boards and Boards of Management) Bill reads: "Experience in the case of the RTCs, where the 1992 Act required the ominating VECs to have regard to gender balance, was that this was ignored until the Minister for Education intervened."
The VECs, however, had been presented with flawed legislation for the RTCs which they then had to deal with, said Mr Rooney. "The difficulty rests at the door of the incompetence of those who drafted the legislation in the first place."
He said the IVEA had offered bits assistance to the Minister to ensure a smooth transition of power in the RTCs from the VECs to the colleges themselves. But it withdrew this offer when it learned of private and separate negotiations between the Department and the heads of the colleges.
It was therefore "quite untrue" to suggest that the gender balance problem was created by the VECs.
A dispute over time off for union representatives in the vocational sector was to be referred to the Labour Relations Commission, Mr Rooney said.
The traditional "nod and wink" arrangement for releasing reps for union business had failed, as too many people were taking too much time off.
The IVEA had put proposals to the main union involved, the Teachers' Union of Ireland, which would allow reps timetabling privileges on Fridays, as well as 10 special free days within each year. Job sharing arrangements were also available if union duties required more free time.
This offer had been rejected by the TUI which wanted to revert to previous arrangements. In the past year, the VECs in Co Sligo and Co Laois have deducted pay from two TUI executive members in respect of unauthorised absences.
Up to 80 per cent of higher education grant application forms were filled out incorrectly, Mr Rooney said. This highlighted the need for young people and their parents to have local assistance in dealing with and processing grant inquiries. It was regrettable that the Minister was still insisting on centralising the grant scheme.
The conference concludes today.
