Schools to clamp down on career breaks to ease teacher shortage
Crisis point in classrooms as positions cannot be filled
SCHOOLS are set to curb career breaks and job-sharing in order to tackle the severe teacher shortages hitting our classrooms.
A range of new measures is being considered to deal with a widespread staffing problem that school authorities say is now reaching crisis levels.
At second-level, there are difficulties in recruiting teachers in a range of subjects. Meanwhile, the problem for primary schools is centred around a lack of substitutes to step in for absences such as career breaks, maternity leave or sick leave.
A baby boom and rising population has heaped pressure on schools at the same time as many young teachers are seeking more lucrative work abroad.
A number of school management bodies have raised the issue of the impact of career breaks and job shares on current shortages, and suggest that some restrictions are on the way.
Part of the problem is that the annual deadline for such applications is February 1, and responses must be provided to teachers by March 1.
Schools do not know whether they will be able to find a replacement at that stage.
SCHOOLS are to curb career breaks and job-sharing in order to tackle the severe teacher shortages hitting our classrooms.
A range of measures are being considered to deal with a widespread staffing problem that school authorities say is now reaching crisis levels.
At second-level, there are difficulties in recruiting teachers in a range of subjects including Irish, home economics, maths, foreign languages and physics.
Meanwhile, the problem for primary schools is centred around a lack of substitutes to step in for absences such as career breaks, maternity leave or sick leave.
A baby boom and rising population has heaped pressure on schools at the same time as many young teachers are seeking more lucrative work abroad.
Pupil numbers at primary level have soared by more than 80,000 during the past decade – a boom now filtering into second-level.
Recent years have also seen a steady increase in the number of teachers taking career breaks.
In the current school year, there are 1,707 primary and 557 post-primary teachers on a career break, up from 1,228 and 307 respectively in 2012/13. Job shares are also up.
Teachers take career breaks for a number of reasons, but relatively large numbers are understood to be going abroad, to Abu Dhabi and Dubai primarily, in the United Arab Emirates.
The issue takes on a particular urgency over the next few weeks, when schools have to decide on applications for career breaks and job shares for September.
This is also the season when agencies are seeking to hire teachers to work abroad for the next academic year, with a number of recruitment fairs scheduled.
A number of school management bodies have raised the issue of the impact of career breaks and job shares on current shortages, and suggest some restrictions are on the way.
Part of the problem is that the annual deadline for such applications is February 1, |and responses must be provided to teachers by March 1.
Schools do not know whether they will be able to find a replacement at that stage.
The Teaching Council, part of whose function is to advise on teacher supply, is now involved a series of meetings with education stakeholders to discuss ways of addressing the problem.
Education Minister Richard Bruton admits there are some “pinch points” around teacher supply, but denies there is a crisis.
A Department of Education spokesperson pointed to the steady supply of teacher graduates at both primary and post primary level.
But the lure of tax-free salaries in the Middle East has seen an stream of graduates leaving the country, typically for two to three years.
There are no official figures on the numbers of Irish teachers in the Middle East – but Abu Dhabi is now the third most popular overseas destination, after the UK and US for working Irish graduates in the year after leaving college.
A recent Higher Education Authority report showed that 8pc of working graduates from the class of 2016 were employed abroad – but for teachers the figure was as high as 13pc.
Growing concerns about teacher supply has also triggered a Fianna Fáil Private Members Motion to be debated in the Dáil tomorrow.
The Oireachtas Education Committee is also preparing for a hearing on the matter, and has invited submissions.
Fianna Fáil education spokesperson Thomas Byrne said the Government needed to agree a road map with the teaching unions on pay equality and a to bring home young Irish teachers working abroad.
A spokesperson for Mr Bruton said he had taken measures to address both the substitution issue and reported shortages for certain subjects at second-level, and was considering others.
But John Boyle, president of the INTO union, said young teachers were disadvantaged as it took 27 years to reach the top of the teachers’ pay scale.
“Tackling pay inequality will need faster progression for teachers recruited on lower salaries and a shorter scale,” he said.