John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Robbie Gallagher for raising this matter and affording me an opportunity to outline to the House the position with regard to the teacher exchange scheme.

The provisions of the scheme are set out in Circular 17/2015, the contents of which were agreed under the auspices of the Teacher Conciliation Council. The Teacher Conciliation Council is part of the scheme of conciliation and arbitration for teachers and was established to deal with claims and proposals relating to the terms and conditions of employment of teachers. The council is composed of representatives of teachers, school management, the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and is chaired by an official of the Workplace Relations Commission.

The teacher exchange scheme is open to primary teachers who are registered with the Teaching Council, have completed probation and wish to exchange their posts for educational purposes. Educational purposes include enabling teachers in primary schools to gain experience of teaching in different types of settings. For example, a teacher could seek an exchange from an urban school to a rural school or vice versa;a large school with a single class per teacher to a smaller school with multi-grade classes; a junior school, namely, a school were infants to second class are taught, to a senior school where third to sixth class pupils are taught; a single gender school to a mixed gender school; an ordinary school to a special school; or from a DEIS school to a non-DEIS school.

The concept is that teachers will gain a different experience, enrich their knowledge and understanding of their professional work and share this understanding with colleagues. The minimum period for which an exchange may occur is one year and the maximum is five years. In the current year, the issue of this limit and the purpose of the scheme was reviewed under the auspices of the Teacher Conciliation Council. Having considered the matter in detail and taking into account all circumstances, both the trade union and management partners considered that their preferred option was to retain the existing scheme for educational purposes. Available teaching posts are to be filled by redeployment, in the first instance, in accordance with the redeployment schemes or with the recruitment and appointment procedures, as agreed and published in the Department's governance manual for primary schools.

To facilitate this review and in an exceptional matter and without prejudice to Circular 17/2015, it was decided to extend the maximum period of exchange for teachers who were in their fifth year of the scheme for one further year. I have set out precisely what has occurred. The Department asked the various governance bodies associated with the teacher exchange programme to review the scheme. Discussions were held among the various bodies and they recommended that no changes be made. That is the current position.