Ms Breda Lynch:

The ASTI commends the decision of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills to examine the status of non-teaching staff in schools. While teachers constitute the core professional staffing of schools, schools cannot effectively operate without the work of non-teaching staff. Typically, the latter includes school secretaries, caretakers, cleaners and special needs assistants. Given the expanding nature of the work of schools and consequent increase in administration, it might be more appropriate to use the term “education support personnel” for such employees. This title better communicates the nature of their work in schools and also the fact that they are increasingly enjoined in departmental policies as regards the implementation of whole-school practices such as anti-bullying procedures, child protection and safeguarding procedures, school attendance strategies and school completion programmes.

The status of school secretaries and caretakers is not the same across the three second level sectors. Education and training boards, along with community and comprehensive schools, receive funding in aggregate form, block grant and annual budget allocation respectively. On the other hand, the funding of these services in voluntary secondary schools is based on a capitation grant. It is a matter for each school to apply this funding as it sees fit. There is strong anecdotal evidence, underpinned by the work of other trade unions representing non-teaching staff, that the conditions of work are insecure and the salary is based on an hourly rate. According to our colleagues in Fórsa, some school secretaries in the voluntary sector earn as little as €13,000 per annum and must revert to social protection income support during holidays and sick days. Most have no entitlement to pension rights.

From a trade union point of view, it is unacceptable that workers doing the same job do not receive the same pay. The ASTI fully believes there should be a common salary scale for all school secretaries with standard benefits such as sick pay, holiday pay, pension rights and public service leave entitlements.

The introduction of the special needs assistant scheme to support students with special educational needs has been central to the goal of providing inclusive education.

Their work in schools is highly valued and we need more of them. The ASTI broadly supports the NCSE 2018 recommendations and is happy to see many of them as key features of the school inclusion model being trialled in the next school year. The front-loading allocation model, breaking the need for an assessment, should improve the situation. We welcome the expansion of the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, and the fact that special needs assistants, SNAs will be offered a new national training programme. The proposed nurse-led service to complement current provision delivering health supports to students with complex physical needs is very welcome, as is the development of regional support teams comprising speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and behavioural support practitioners under the auspices of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE.

Schools are highly complex social institutions whose role is continually expanding to meet new societal challenges in a constantly evolving environment. Schools cannot meet the requirements of society if their funding model does not take account of the complexity of the work undertaken. This applies particularly in the area of special educational needs, which we addressed recently with the committee. Non-teaching staff are essential support staff in these complex environments. Their status must be acknowledged and funding mechanisms for schools must be reviewed to ensure that no sector is disadvantaged in terms of its capacity to provide decent working conditions for valued members of staff.