Members from across the Education Divisional and all over the country were to be found in the Galway Bay Hotel on the 23rd and 24th April for the Education Divisional Conference. Delegates representing the division’s branches gathered to set the agenda for the division’s activities for the next two years. 

Watch our Confrence recap video "We Look After Each Other"

A new Education Divisional Executive Committee (EDEC) was elected, which will be chaired by Ursula Cox from the Higher Education branch. Catherine Quirke of the Munster SNA branch will take on the Vice Chair role.  

Delegates were busy over the two days debating motions on a wide range of issues. Motions passed on outsourcing in the ETB sector, increasing provision of autism classes, calling for the Department of Education Circular on assault leave to be amended, the inclusion of non-teaching staff on boards of management, the SNA workforce development plan, and increasing administrative staffing in the technological university sector, amongst many other topics.   

In a show of solidarity underscoring how connected the division is, branches put forward numerous motions supporting key campaigns being led by other branches in the division, from SNAs supporting pension parity in schools to school secretaries calling for better assault leave for SNAs.  

Delegates decided enough was enough for school secretaries and caretakers, voting in favour of a ballot of members on industrial action. Their vote created ripples with media coverage from RTE, The Irish Times, the Connacht Tribune, and on Galway Bay FM. 

Watch RTE's coverage of the conference here.

Minister commits to “doing everything she can” to advance progress for school staff 

The new Minister for Education Helen McEntee received a warm welcome at conference. She paid tribute to the transformative work of Fórsa members in the Education division and made commitments to work towards pension parity in schools.  

Fórsa’s head of education, Andy Pike responded to the Minister’s speech. He highlighted the injustice of school secretaries and caretakers being left without pensions, and without access to bereavement and critical illness leave. He acknowledged the work being done on the SNA workforce development plan and called the announcement that an SNA redeployment scheme will be in operation for the coming school year “seismic.” 

Andy also highlighted the prevalence of children being locked out of education due to the lack of school places for children with additional needs. He called on the Minister to make both issues a priority. 

He offered Fórsa’s support in solving the issues facing the Department of Education, recalling the beneficial collaborative working relationship between unions and the department that existed during the pandemic. He said: “where we can work with the Department, we will.” 

Gender- Based Violence fringe 

The need for a fundamental change in Irish society’s approach to the treatment of victims was highlighted at the Education Conference lunch-time fringe event: Addressing Gender-Based Violence.  

Fórsa’s Linda O’Sullivan was joined by Diane Byrne of Women of Honour, and gender-based violence activist, Natasha O’Brien, for an unflinching look at the prevalence of gender-based violence in Irish society.  

While the Irish Defence Forces came under direct criticism, panellists emphasised that the tendency towards seeing a victim seeking justice as the problem rather than the actions of the perpetrator, is an issue across Irish society. 

Diane discussed how the legal team deployed against her by the Defence Forces was made up entirely of women. She called out the tendency of those in power to hide behind women when disempowering women and called on women to not uphold systems of abuse. 

Natasha emphasised the role men have to play in creating meaningful societal change. She called on men to stand up when they see sexist and aggressive behaviour. She gave praise to the man who likely saved her life when she was assaulted, and held up her attacker’s friends who ran away as examples of how other men often do nothing.  

Linda concluded proceedings by calling for greater solidarity between women, and between women and allies. She praised her fellow panellists for their tireless work addressing gender-based violence and lamented the slow pace of change in the country. 

‘I was sick every time I was on leave’ – Members speak out about impact of burnout, stress, assault and injuries 

After lunch, delegates attended an insightful panel discussion, chaired by Jen Cummins TD, on the impact of stress, burnout, assaults and injuries in the workplace.   

The discussion was preceded by a presentation on the findings of the Education division’s recent survey on this topic, by officials Seamus Ryan and Diarmaid Mac a Bhaird. Read a summary of the findings here.

Fiona McGrath, SNA, and Esther Luttrell, school secretary, spoke about their own experiences, with Fiona outlining that, for her, burnout manifested itself through illness at every school holiday. They were joined by Orla Flynn, President of Atlantic Technological University and Patricia Murray, Organisational Psychologist. Patricia reminded the audience that stress will manifest itself physically if it goes ignored, saying “stress will bypass your intellect and impact your body.”   

She also highlighted the connection between caring about the impact of your work and the likelihood of suffering from stress and burnout. This is backed up by the survey findings in which 73% of respondents said they feel their work is making a difference and 88% reported feeling stressed at work.   

Focusing on solutions Patricia noted that being part of a team is shown to reduce stress, while good relationships and clear communication were also identified as important ways to reduce stress and burnout in the workplace.  

In the Q&A session that followed members spoke from the floor about their own experiences of injury, where they had not wanted to report the incident and take assault leave, as well as incidents when training was refused. There was clear agreement that the Department of Education circular on assault leave has to change.   

Concluding for the day, the chair underlined the importance of being treated with dignity at work, the need for critical incident training for all school staff, and that that staff can only support children effectively if they themselves are also supported.   

Friday opened with motions on Local Pay Bargaining and SNA Appreciation Day. Michael Moynihan TD, Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion, delivered a well-received address. Andy Pike again provided a response, outlining the outstanding issues for the minister and calling for a healthy collaborative relationship between union and department. 

Although unable to attend, James Lawless TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, provided a pre-recorded address which was played to delegates. 

Panel discussion on the experiences of refugee students in the education system 

Great opportunities and great barriers were the themes of the panel discussion on the experiences of refugee students in the education system on Friday. While panellists spoke highly of the education opportunities available, they described a lack of any systemic approach to letting refugees know what opportunities are available to them.  

Additionally, panellists were critical of the lack of stability afforded to people living in Direct Provision. They described having been given no more than a day or two notice before being required to move across country. Dima Atiyeh said, “They don’t give people enough time to move.” 

Fellow panellist Luciano Hilario described the difficulty of moving school at short notice during term time. He called for greater stability for DP residents. He said, “if they put you in one place you stay there, make friends, and don’t have to break the bonds you make.” 

After the panel discussion some of Fórsa’s most committed members were presented with Distinguished Service awards, celebrating decades of commitment to improving the lives of fellow workers. Watch this space for a profile of this year’s recipients in the next bulletin. 

James Kavanagh wrapped up proceedings thanking delegates for their time, and staff for their hard work organising the conference. He highlighted the transformative power of education, the necessity of ensuring everyone has access to good quality education, and, where it is needed, the support to see it through to completion.  

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