Member update – leave, substitution and delayed reopening

On foot of the INTO’s intervention, the government announced on 30 December that the school Christmas break would be extended by three days, to allow members of school communities to follow public health advice closely this week and to minimise their contacts before returning to school. The INTO has received confirmation that there is no requirement on schools to provide remote learning during this period.

The INTO has also received confirmation from the DE that substitutes who were contracted to work for these three days will be paid. In order to enable this, teachers who had applied for/were scheduled to be on leave for these three days will be recorded as being on this leave. Schools are reminded that these absences/substitutions must be recorded on the OLCS prior to the school closure being recorded.

Teachers who are scheduled to be on leave are reminded that requests for changes to leave must be made in line with the conditions set out in the relevant chapter of Circular 0054/19 – summarised here.

We will seek to keep members up-to-date on the latest developments regarding the re-opening of primary and special schools throughout this week.