'Absurd deadline' will hurt exam pupils
THE FEBRUARY 29 deadline for retirements for public servants has been described as 'an absolutely absurd one for the education system', said TUI area representative Ciaran O'donnell.
He said the deadline was particularly problematic for teachers with Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate classes.
'Teachers care deeply about their schools and the students they teach and were hugely dissatisfied that there was no common sense approach in relation to extending this deadline. The department's decision to allow schools to re-employ retiring teachers on a short-term basis until the summer was just an afterthought and the deadline should clearly have been extended to this date.'
He also noted that while normally retirements present opportunities for younger teachers, it is 'galling' that despite these retirements, young teachers will not be in a position to benefit due to further cuts in December's budget.
'Numbers reported last week showed that 799 second level teachers were due to retire before pension changes become effective at the end of February. This should have provided a window of opportunity for newly qualified teachers to come into the system, but as a result of the cuts to guidance provision, a similar number of posts will be removed from the system and these young teachers will be denied the opportunity that they should have, which is short-sighted in the extreme.'
Meanwhile, the cut to guidance provision will severely damage the support framework offered to students and could also narrow subject choices in many schools.
