TDs and senators to hear of crisis among school principals

ALMOST 90% of primary school teaching principals have said their health has been ‘adversely affected by their role’ and that the sector has reached ‘unprecedented crisis levels of burnout and workload stress’.

TDs and senators on the Oireachtas Education committee will hear from teachers, parents, schools and department officials on ‘school costs, school facilities and related matters’ over the next two days.

The National Principals’ Forum will tell the committee later today that there is a ‘leadership crisis in primary schools’.

In their opening statement, which has been seen by the Irish Daily Mail, Angela Dunne, of the forum, is set to tell the members her group is a ‘grassroots campaign set up specifically to highlight the intolerable working conditions endured by principals throughout Ireland’.

Their group currently has 500 ‘actively engaged’ members who are school principals in every county in Ireland.

A survey carried out by the group shows that 84% of principals have ‘seriously considered stepping down from their positions’.

The group will tell the committee that this is ‘very much a national crisis and the future of the primary education system is at serious risk if the current trends are not addressed immediately’.