‘LACK OF FULL-TIME ROLES IS DRIVING TEACHERS ABROAD’

AISLING Slattery is one of the new entrant secondary school teachers on a lower pay rate than some of her colleagues.

And the Irish and history teacher, pictured above, said that while achieving pay equality is a major issue, the lack of full-time positions on offer is a matter that must be tackled urgently – as it is driving young teachers out of the country.

While teachers who entered the profession since 2011 now begin on a salary of €36,000, many new entrants can’t get a full-time contract.

Ms Slattery told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘A 22-hour contract is not always possible. I’m teaching four years now and I still don’t have a 22-hour contract.’

She added: ‘I started off on 11, worked two years on a six-hour contract, and I’m up to 16 now.’ Ms Slattery, who works in the Presentation Secondary School in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, said that she has had to give grinds and undertake weekend work to make ends meet.

While she herself decided not to move abroad to seek work due to personal circumstances, she said that the ‘disgraceful’ situation is causing her peers to leave the country to find secure teaching jobs.

‘Plenty of my friends have [moved abroad],’ Ms Slattery said.

‘They do miss home – there is a dark side to it, it isn’t all positive.’

She added: ‘When you go into teaching, you want that to be your job, it’s a vocation. Nobody goes into it for the money, but it is frustrating when you’re doing the same work as somebody else and not getting the same recognition or the same pay for it.’