Striking teachers are planning major protests at secondary schools if the Department of Education uses members of the public as supervisors for this year's exams.
With the five-month-old dispute becoming increasingly bitter, teachers indicated last night they would place pickets on hundreds of exam centres and confront any supervisors who were not teachers. Members of the standing committee of the Association of Secondary Teac hers, Ireland said non-teachers who supervised exams while the dispute was continuing would be "strike breaking" and would face a hostile reception. The presence of large-scale pickets on schools is likely to make it difficult for the Department to get enough people to act as supervisors. It is due to place an advertisement in newspapers this week seeking about 4,500 people to take on the role. But many may not apply if it involves facing pickets and vocal opposition from teachers.
The ASTI standing committee meets tomorrow to discuss its response to the Department's plans and several members will be pushing for pickets to be placed. The union is expected to endorse this stance and may recommend additional measures. A national strike is also due to take place tomorrow.
One leading member said last night: "The situation could get quite ugly down the road if the Department tries to push through these plans."
Those plans were dealt a second blow last night when principals said they would not do "administrative work" related to exams while the dispute continued. The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals said the Department's plans were "unworkable" because they lacked the co-operation of teachers. The Teachers Union of Ireland said last night it might not take part in the exams if the Department used non-teachers or any "inappropriate personnel".
In another indication that positions were hardening, a spokesman for the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, last night called into question the democratic credentials of the ASTI. The spokesman criticised the union's failure to ballot its 17,000 members on the Labour Court recommendation.
"It is conceivable that the democratic nature of this organisation appears to be in question. They did not put the Labour Court's recommendation to ballot. It is the primary adjudicating body," said Mr Ahern's spokesman. He said the Taoiseach did not intend to get involved directly in the dispute. The Labour Court had given teachers everything they wanted, he said.
Meanwhile the ASTI has consulted its solicitors on the potential for parents to sue the union over its strike. Several ASTI trustees have expressed concern that its failure to ballot its members on the Labour Court recommendation could leave it open to legal action from parents.
