Jobs action plan ‘fails to tackle shortage of teachers’

MINISTERS have increased the number of free Springboard training courses to encourage men and women to go to work in areas of job shortage – but teaching posts have been left out.

There is a 25% increase in the number of places available on the upskilling and reskilling higher education programme.

There will now be just over 8,000 places available on the programme for 2018, which is geared towards qualifying people to work ‘in areas of identified skills need’.

Separately, however, there have been repeated calls for action on the lack of teachers. Difficulties include finding substitute teachers in primary schools and teachers for certain subjects at secondary level.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland recently told an Oireachtas Committee that the solution ‘lies in a comprehensive plan for the abolition of discriminatory pay rates for new entrants’.

Education Minister Richard Bruton has been considering possible initiatives to tackle the problem and had said Springboard was a possibility for preparing people for teaching.

However, although the Government is today launching a ‘new suite of courses under Springboard 2018’, a spokesperson for Mr Bruton’s department confirmed that ‘there are no current Springboard courses for teaching’.

But the Department of Education insisted that ‘we are hiring more teachers than ever before’. A spokesman said: ‘The teacher supply steering group will look at all options to alleviate pressure finding teachers in certain subjects at post-primary.’

The department also pointed out it has already confirmed the extension of places on teacher training courses with specific places for maths, science and technology, languages and home economics.

Springboard aims to provide ‘free higher-education courses in areas of identified skills needs to unemployed people, those previously self-employed and those returning to work’.

There will be 8,088 places on offer this year in 245 courses around the country.