Fórsa has said the newly announced review of the national SNA contract has finally shown sign of progress on improving job security for SNAs following the union’s #RespectforSNAs campaign.
The union’s head of Education, Andy Pike, said the union had secured agreement that the review - announced by the Minister for Special Education on Monday (2nd October) - will include a range of measures specifically sought by the union’s campaign, and brings Fórsa closer to delivering beneficial changes to terms and conditions for its SNA members.
Andy said: “The review will encompass the establishment of a pilot redeployment scheme for SNAs and establish new minimum entry qualifications. These agreed aspects are crucial to minimising the risk of redundancy for SNAs and takes a meaningful step toward the professionalisation of the SNA role.”
He said the review is also due to address more contentious working arrangements, including the “72 hour” obligation, which has led to SNAs being tasked with inappropriate work, such as cleaning and maintenance.
Workforce Development Plan
Fórsa also responded to Monday’s announcement that a new national SNA Workforce Development Plan will be established over the next two years.
The plan is to address several key areas, including:
- Review and development of the SNA role
- Establishment of a quality assurance framework
- Establishment of a SNA learning and development programme
- Supporting SNA recruitment, retention and diversity
The Department of Education is to shortly commence this work with a survey of SNAs.
Andy said Fórsa will be engaging with the department on details of the plan over its two-year development and will press for much greater recognition and respect for SNAs: “We plan to engage positively on the development of this plan. Many of the issues highlighted are long overdue for attention.
“Minimum qualifications are currently outdated, so there is a real opportunity now to build on the progress made through the establishment of the UCD national SNA training programme. Equally, we have campaigned for many years against the allocation of inappropriate work to SNAs.
“Fórsa agrees that the SNA role should be an attractive career choice but real change, and genuine improvements to terms and conditions, must be made to achieve that objective.
“This is the first time that we’ve achieved any agreement with the department on the use of the so-called “72 hours” and June working arrangements for SNAs in secondary schools. These additional hours are widely abused and Fórsa’s aim is to see them abolished,” he said.
Mr Pike extended his thanks to everyone who has supported the #RespectforSNAs campaign: “These latest developments simply would not have been possible were it not for the efforts of thousands of SNA members and others who supported the campaign.
“That continued support will provide us with the best opportunity to make significant changes on behalf of all SNAs and the children they care for,” he said.
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