OECD Report on the Public Service 29/4/08
Statement by John Carr, INTO General Secretary, on OECD Report “Towards an Integrated Public Service”
29th April 2008INTO says the Principal teacher must not be seen as Bob the Builder with a “yes we can” attitude.
The INTO claimed today (29th April 2008) that the OECD report “Towards an Integrated Public Service” showed the extent to which school building and renovation depends on the unpaid and voluntary efforts of Principal teachers.
The report recognises that members of Boards of Management are voluntary and may lack the expertise to deal with building contractors. This, the report points out is usually delegated to the school principal.
“There is no logical or defensible reason for this,” said John Carr, General Secretary of the INTO. “Principal teachers have no more expertise to undertake this work than any other member of the Board of Management. The limited training that is provided for principal teacher does not cover project management or any of the other tasks that are delegated to them.”
The INTO said the report recognised that this puts additional pressure on the school principal, “who apart from performing his/her normal duties (teacher, school administrator, etc.), must also engage at the local level with the consultants (project managers, architects, engineers, etc.) on an ongoing basis regarding the renovation/expansion of the school.”
This is completely unacceptable according to the INTO. “No other worker would be expected to engage in unpaid overtime on such a scale. No other worker would be asked to perform work for which no training was provided.”
“The truth is that the system runs on the good will, enthusiasm and sheer hard work of principal teachers,” said John Carr.
The INTO also claimed that this dependence on principal teachers is not confined to repairing and renovating school buildings. “In primary schools the Principal teacher is the HR department, maintenance supervisor, ICT expert, legal advisor, fundraiser as well as teacher and school leader.”
Carr said it was no wonder that the OECD report was able to conclude that in comparison with other OECD countries, Ireland “has been able to deliver public services with a public sector that is relatively small given the size of its economy”. According to the OECD, “Ireland has the third smallest total public expenditure as a percentage of GDP, and this figure has actually decreased over the past 10 years.”
“This is no surprise to principal teachers,” said John Carr, “when you consider that principals are multi-tasking on such a scale. Without their efforts to prop up a system that is so clearly under-funded the whole system would have ground to a halt years ago.” He said the Department should stop relying on principals to be Bob the Builder with a “yes we can” attitude and start resourcing school management properly.
He said that far from the OECD report being a platform for a slimmed down, leaner public service, when it comes to school leaders, the case for increased investment is irrefutable. “It is a complete disgrace that a principal teacher in Derry gets two days a week free from teaching duties to run the school while in Donegal, a principal would be lucky to get a day per month.”
ENDS.