The INTO is calling for the full reinstatement of the assistant principal roles which were cut in primary and special schools in the austerity period.
500 Assistant Principal 2 (AP2) positions were restored in the 2024 budget, but this still leaves a significant shortfall of approximately 1,700 middle management roles yet to be reinstated to bring schools to the level they had fifteen years ago, before the moratorium on promotions was imposed.
Assistant principals play a crucial role in supporting both principals and deputy principals across a spectrum of responsibilities. These include enhancing teaching and learning, leading school development, supporting pupil wellbeing, coordinating special education, implementing inclusion strategies and integrating various educational reforms such as the Literacy, Numeracy, Digital, STEM, Gaeltacht and Sustainable education strategies and the Cineáltas Action Plan on Bullying.
The restoration of these promoted posts not only facilitates smoother school operations and improved pupil supports but also offers vital career progression and valuable middle management experience for teachers. The lack of action to restore these critical roles was a major point of contention at the INTO Congress 2024, where delegates voiced strong disapproval of the government’s inadequate investment in distributive leadership over the past 15 years.