Ivana Bacik
Ceist:274. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Education her views on the shortage of teaching staff in Ireland. [60150/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 6 December 2022
Ceisteanna (274)
Freagraí scríofa
I am aware that primary and post-primary schools are experiencing challenges in recruiting teachers, and I would like to assure the Deputy that my Department and I have taken significant steps to address this and will continue to do so.
Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) represent an additional source of supply for substitute and full-time posts in 2022/23, with more than 3,600 primary and post-primary NQTs registered with the Teaching Council this year.
The Department of Education runs a comprehensive programme of work to support the supply of teachers and the Department engages closely with the school management bodies and other education stakeholders to inform this work.
Significant additional posts have been allocated to the primary substitute teacher supply panels in areas where significant challenges in sourcing substitution continue. This brings the total to 610 posts on 151 panels covering more than 2,840 schools.
The supply panels work alongside the existing methods of sourcing substitute teachers and schools can also make local arrangements to have their own regular substitutes to call on if needed.
Following from the Department’s Action Plan on Teacher Supply, the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) has developed a portal for the recruitment of teachers to long-term teaching positions. The portal will facilitate the matching of demand and supply and provide an efficient and user-friendly recruitment process for both schools and teachers. I understand that the portal will be available in the coming weeks.
In addition, Sub Seeker a central portal for short-term substitute vacancies, was jointly developed by IPPN and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals. The portal matches available primary and post-primary teachers with short-term substitute vacancies. Almost 12,000 teachers have registered with Sub Seeker to date.
A number of measures to enhance the supply of substitute teachers have also been put in place for the current school year.
Job sharing teachers may be employed to work in a substitute capacity during the period they are rostered off, in their own or in other schools
The limits on substitute work applying to teachers on career break have also been temporarily suspended for the 2022/23 school year.
Retired teachers who have kept their Teaching Council registration represent a source of substitute cover for schools. In that regard the Department agreed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform a waiver of abatement for retired teachers returning to teach for up to 50 days in each of the three calendar years, 2021 to 2023 inclusive. In 2021, almost 800 retired primary teachers provided substitute cover in schools.
The Teaching Council made regulations allowing for the registration of 3rd and 4th year undergraduate student teachers under a new registration route, Route 5 (Student Teachers). More than 2,100 student teachers have applied to date for registration under Route 5. Approximately 1,250 have registered and more than 900 applications are currently being processed. Once registered with the Teaching Council, student teachers can be employed by a school to cover substitutable vacancies.
At post-primary level the Department has recently put in place a scheme that allows teachers to teach additional hours in their subject area over the usual 22-hour limit, up to a maximum of 20 additional hours per term. Retired teachers who maintain their Teaching Council registration can also provide substitute cover.
To meet longer term teacher demand, higher education institutions have developed new four-year initial teacher education programmes in a number of post-primary priority subject areas, including Irish, mathematics, computer science and modern foreign languages.
In addition, the Department fully funds teachers to participate in upskilling programmes in mathematics, physics and Spanish. The first cohort of participants, approximately 170 teachers, is expected to graduate from these programmes this year and more than 300 teachers will graduate in 2023. It is also intended to commence an upskilling programme in Irish in 2023.
The Department also has a scheme to allow post-primary schools to share teachers, the aim of which is to recruit teachers in high-demand subjects and give teachers a full-time teaching contract. Schools are strongly urged to explore this option as a means of supporting recruitment.
These measures are underpinned by the Teaching Transforms campaign which promotes the teaching profession and encourages students to follow a career in teaching. The campaign is supported by the dedicated webpage on gov.ie.
It is acknowledged that despite these important actions, which have helped to some extent, work remains to be done to address teacher supply challenges, particularly to ensure the availability of sufficient substitute teachers. The Department of Education will continue to work closely and intensively with stakeholders on this important matter.