01/03/2017
INTO calls for next Education Minister to
take action amid industrial unrest
THE Northern Secretary of Ireland's largest teachers' union is calling for the next Education Minister
to take action to ensure schools are functioning at the high levels expected of teachers by parents
and pupils.
Gerry Murphy, of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) was speaking ahead of this
weekend's annual Northern Conference which takes place in Newcastle, Co Down, amid industrial
unrest within the teaching profession.
The conference, which will be attended by hundreds of teachers, will focus on the imposed zero per
cent pay rise to teachers, the underfunding of school budgets and the implications of these serious
issues on the future of the Northern Ireland education system.
Mr Murphy, who will be addressing teachers at the conference, says the frustration of INTO at the
continuing financial disaster schools face is shared by all INTO members.
He said: "INTO calls upon the new incoming Minister to take action and to accept the reality that
teachers are facing in attempting to keep schools functioning at the high level expected by parents.
"Trevor Connolly, former Director of Finance at the Department of Education, informed the
Education Committee in January that the full impact of the budget cuts upon schools' individual
budgets would not be clear until early March but there would be a deficit amounting to a percentage
cut of 3.8 per cent or a cash reduction of £72m.
"It is teachers who are currently patching up this underfunded system. Teachers are in shops buying
the resources needed for their classrooms. It's teachers who buy the paper, the glue, the pencils, the
textbooks and they are the people paying for the apps on the iPads. Parents and the public need to
be aware this is the case.
"One school was forced to resort to asking teachers to fund photocopying. In addition to contacting
various charities, including the national lottery, teachers are perpetually fund raising just to keep
schools operating and to provide the services parents expect."
Mr Murphy said some principals have surrendered their principal release teachers for other teaching
duties while other principals have not asked for movement along their incremental scale to which
they are entitled.
He added: "Class sizes and teacher workloads are the only feature of our schools that are increasing.
INTO rejects the response of the former minister, Peter Weir, who stated that the scale of the
concern was exaggerated.
"INTO is calling upon the new minister to avoid platitudes and political spin and to present real and
positive solutions which will allow schools to provide the service expected.”
Among other motions to be debated will include the INTO joining other teaching unions in proposing
a vote of no confidence in the Chief Inspector who has succeeded in doing two things since coming
into the role.
Mr Murphy said the first being the creation of a wedge between a service formerly seen as a
contributor to school improvement and the teachers who daily deliver the teaching and learning
within schools.
The second is to unite the teaching workforce in a demand for a revised inspection regime which is
no longer seen as punitive but rather genuinely constructive and helpful.
INTO will also debate the worrying use of zero hours contracts for employing teachers over
prolonged periods of time which denies them basic employment rights.
The conference takes place on Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4.
ENDS:
NOTES TO EDITOR:
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