Learning support educators at church schools will not be adapting learning material or exam papers for their students, after being issued a set of directives by the Union of Professional Educators.
The UPE - Voice of the Workers - issued directives after its members voiced serious concern over their working conditions and work-life balance.
The union “persistently” asked for meetings with the Secretariat of Catholic Education. While some concerns were dealt with, after the union approached the Department Of Industrial And Employment Relations, no meetings were held throughout summer.
The union therefore issued directives to its current and prospective members.
LSEs have been asked not to take orders or follow instructions issued by the schools’ inclusive coordinators (Incos) or heads of departments who are not officially employed by the secretariat.
The role of people in such positions should be only advisory, the union insisted.
Meanwhile, LSEs have also been asked not to write or type individual educational programmes (IEPs) and end of year individual educational reports (MAPs).
A third directive stops LSEs from reproducing learning documents, assessments or exam papers provided by the teacher in any altered format. Instead, LSEs are expected to support students with visuals that help facilitate the learning process.
Lastly, “educators reserve the right to disconnect outside of school hours. Educators are not obliged to answer any form of electronic or other communication after school hours.
“We would like to assure our current and prospective members that we will do our best to support them and that we will direct them on further developments,” a union spokesman said on Thursday.
Law preclude secretariat from engaging in discussions with new union
Reacting, the Secretariat for Catholic Education said that while the UPE was a registered union, it did not hold recognition for collective bargaining.
It noted that the UPE was in breach of article five of the Recognition of Trade Union Regulations 2016 which stated that once a union was recognised as the sole collective bargaining one, no other union could intervene on a collective matter.
“While affirming that UPE is incorrect in its claims, in the current context the same legislative regulations preclude the Secretariat from engaging in any discussions with UPE on matters of a collective nature.”
The Secretariat valued the individual members of its communities, including learners, their families and especially employees, on whom the system relied to provide a high-quality educational service.
“This is manifested in a continuous effort to provide the best possible working conditions which are also reflected in the improved conditions agreed upon with the recognised union.”