‘Minister at sixes and sevens as teacher recruitment and retention crisis deepens’ – ASTI leader
82% of schools had no applications for vacant post/s in ‘23/24 school year
The teacher recruitment and retention crisis continues unabated. Schools are under enormous strain and many look like they will be barely able to cope when they reopen shortly.
The extent of the recruitment and retention crisis in our schools demonstrated in a 2024 RED C / ASTI survey issued today is shocking. The survey found that 82% of second-level schools had no applications for an advertised post or posts during the 2023/24 school year; 87% of schools said there were no substitute teachers available to cover for absent teachers; 77% said they had to employ non-qualified/ casual teachers to manage teacher supply issues.
In addition to employing non-qualified teachers, schools had to resort to reassigning Special Education Needs teachers to mainstream classes, adversely impacting the most vulnerable in school communities. Almost a fifth of schools removed a subject or subjects from the curriculum.
Minister Foley has been inexplicably reluctant to make the changes necessary to fundamentally address the problem, according to ASTI General Secretary Kieran Christie.
Kieran Christie, ASTI General Secretary, said:
“The Minister for Education is at sixes and sevens as the recruitment and retention crisis deepens. The Minister must change course to ensure that there is a classroom teacher standing before all students for the entirety of the school day. In recent years several minimalist cosmetic interventions have been announced and repackaged that have failed to make a dent in the problem. These include upskilling of existing teachers, extra training places for teachers in our colleges of education, changes to student teacher placement arrangements, and changes to the substitution arrangements applicable for teachers on leave schemes and retired teachers.
“The Minister needs to belatedly realise that it is impossible to entice teachers to return from other countries on the promise of part-time or fixed term positions only. Subject to satisfactory probation, permanent appointments should be made available. Shortening of the extraordinarily long teachers’ pay scale and doubling the number of middle management posts in schools would also help enormously to properly address the teacher supply crisis.
“The United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession recently reported on the on-going and worsening crisis in teaching globally and recommended that governments ensure equitable funding for education and sustainable investment in the teaching profession.
“Our government is falling short on both fronts. It cannot continue.
“The children of our country are paying an enormous price in this crisis and it will leave a long and bitter legacy.”
ENDS
Issued by Gemma Tuffy, Communications Official. Tel: 01/6040172; email: [email protected]
