Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO330, March 2003

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 42. The Committee examined this case on the merits at its March 2002 meeting [327th Report, paras. 214-259]. The Committee requested the Government to amend its legislation so that free collective bargaining could take place on the consequences of educational policy decisions on the conditions of employment of teachers. The Committee also requested the complainant and the Government to provide more information on the modifications brought to the established standard teaching time, under the Education Accountability Act (EAA).
2. 43. In its communication of 3 October 2002, the Government states that, while the amount of instruction time is a matter of educational policy, the parties are entitled to bargain collectively on the consequences of that policy decision on conditions of employment, e.g. salary and benefits, leaves of absence, teacher-pupils ratio, class size (within certain limits), paid leave for union activities, etc. Furthermore, in the Stability and Excellence in Education Act, 2001 (SEAA) the Government provided greater flexibility to the parties by broadening the definition of what may be included as instructional time. Within these parameters, school boards and unions can still negotiate teachers’ workloads. A series of consultations were held with teachers’ unions prior to the introduction of the SEAA, which reflects these consultations.
3. 44. As regards teaching time modifications, the EAA did not force teachers to perform “extra” instructional time. However, the Government modified the way instruction time is measured to ensure that the same standard was applied uniformly across the province: whereas the standard time had previously been expressed in the form of time (four hours and ten minutes per day, for a total of 1,250 minutes per week) the standard was restated as an average of 6.67 eligible programmes per year. So, while the manner in which the established standard was measured has been changed, the Government is not asking teachers to do anything more than meet the established standard. The complainants did not provide information in this respect.
4. 45. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government as regards the possibility of collective bargaining on the consequences of educational policy decisions for teachers, including the allocation of instruction time, and on the modifications brought to the established standard teaching time by the EAA.