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Mum's the word at Moville school
06.05.09
by Simon McGeady, Inishowen Independent
THE Inishowen Independent understands that at least
ten members of staff at Moville Community College
are pregnant and are either currently on maternity
leave, or will be by the time the new school year
begins at the end of August.
It’s understood that three of the expectant mothers
(the ten are mostly teachers in full-time posts but
also other members of staff) are currently off work
and are not scheduled to return to the school until
Halloween at the earliest.
In addition several of the teachers are due to give
birth in the summer meaning that the highest level
of maternity leave overlap will come in the first
term of the new school year.
While he would not confirm the number of his staff
now pregnant, speaking to the Inishowen Independent,
Anthony Doogan, the Moville community College
Principal said that the unusually high volume of
staff pregnant at the same time was making news in
education circles. He stressed that disruption to
the Foyleside school’s students’ education would not
be an issue. |
“Maternity leave is so
generous now that teachers can be off for six months
of the year, but as long as we get full replacements
for the duration of that maternity leave, continuity
for the students will not be a problem.
“It is true that teachers of some subjects are more
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replace than others.
For example, it would be very difficult to replace a
Chemistry teacher and I know that in Donegal there
has been some difficulty in finding replacements for
French teachers, but we haven’t had this difficulty
[at Moville Community College].”
A high proportion of the female staff at Moville
Community College are in their late twenties and
early thirties, the age range Irish women having
their first child now most commonly fall into.
Under the Maternity Protection Act of 2004 women are
entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave together with
16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave.
Mr Doogan said that with a young female staff it was
obvious that some would get pregnant as time went
on.
“As has happened with National Schools, teaching at
secondary level is becoming feminised. We are a
young school, in terms of the schools age [Moville
Community College opened in 2001] and we’ve taken on
an eager young staff, some on a part time basis, and
as they were loyal to us we have become loyal to
them,” he added.
Mr Doogan stressed that the Donegal VEC would be
advertising for replacement teachers to cover the
maternity leave at the school.
A more light-hearted side to this ‘baby boom’ story
is that some teachers are speculating that number of
expectant mothers at the school will reach the dozen
by the end of the this school year and joking that
they wouldn’t want to be the next one to knock on
the Principal’s door. |
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