It’s rare that a week goes by without a new circular being produced by the Department of Education. There were 85 released in 2018, 83 in 2017, and 84 in 2016 and 2015. This equates to about 2.5 per week. As I’m writing this in early 2019, despite a promise of a slow down from the Minister, 6 circulars have already been released, technically a slowdown at 1.5 per week.
It is impossible for any school to operate at this rate of change and things need to stop. I am suggesting that circulars are produced only once per term and they are only produced by one partner. I would ban circulars from any other agencies such as the FSSU and NCSE. There would be an agreed date for each term and an agreed timeframe for implementation. There would need to have been consultation with unions before they were produced too. I include emergencies this too. There shouldn’t be emergencies.
