SCHOOLS trying to save cash by letting older teachers retire have been told that those who want out to leave cannot go - throwing their financial plans into chaos.
About £8 million is being made available for the Investing in the Teaching Workforce Scheme, which will see 120 teachers aged 55 and over released from the profession.
This will, in turn, provide job opportunities for up to 120 recently qualified teachers.
The scheme was oversubscribed, receiving 460 applications, but some schools said every one of their teachers who wanted to leave early were unsuccessful.
This, they said, had created massive problems for their under-pressure budgets.
Debts are already soaring out of control with schools predicted to be £75 million in the red in the next three years.
Many schools are struggling to tighten their belts because millions of pounds have been taken out of the system. Major changes to funding are also taking their toll.
Schools must now pick up the tab for increases in employers' contributions to national insurance and superannuation. Many warn this will cost them tens of thousands of pounds, with the cash coming straight out of their budget. For some, this means making staff redundant.
The Investing in the Teaching Workforce Scheme was seen as one way to allow schools to make some savings on staff costs.
Newly qualified staff, on point one of the teachers' pay scale earn slightly more than £22,000 a year. Those seeking to leave would typically take home basic pay of more than £36,000 a year with annual allowances worth up to £12,000.
The Department of Education confirmed that 120 teachers had now been given conditional approval of their application to the scheme, while 340 applications were unsuccessful.
There is no right of appeal for those told they cannot leave.
Hazelwood Integrated College in north Belfast is among the schools who hoped to avail of the scheme. Principal Kathleen O'Hare said her school was under severe financial pressure.
"Savings to Hazelwood Integrated College were projected to be £35,000 but staff who applied have been turned down just before Christmas. There is no appeals process and currently no other way for costs to be reduced in schools to the extent required," she said.
"There are no other avenues for schools to reduce costs as no redundancy programmes have been announced for this academic year. This will put schools like Hazelwood under severe pressure as since we have a fully delegated budget, we will not be able to go into deficit."
