Following on from the statement issued yesterday by Management Side of the Teachers' Negotiating Committee (TNC), Chief Executive of CCMS Eamonn Broderick said;
“As the Employing Authority for Catholic Maintained schools, we recognise the dignity of the vocation our teachers and school leaders carry out each day. We understand that the time taken to implement measures to resolve workload pressures has been immensely frustrating for teachers and principals alike. The care and commitment they show our children and young people is not in question, and we understand why they feel the need for immediate relief through industrial action. Workload pressures have been, and remain, real and serious.
"That is precisely why this development is so difficult for us. We had reached agreement in principle on eight of the 11 outstanding issues in the Minister's action plan and were four weeks away from a settlement that could have brought lasting, meaningful change to the working environment in schools.
"Our Catholic school community is built on care for the whole child and for one another, and it is in that spirit that we hope this action will be short-lived so that our schools can return, as soon as possible, to providing our children and young people with the fullest possible experience of school life."