‘Piecemeal initiatives’ will not solve teacher supply crisis
Piecemeal initiatives will not solve the teacher supply crisis, ASTI President Ger Curtin said today.
“In 2011 new entrants to teaching were placed on inferior pay scales. Second-level teachers are now required to complete a two-year Professional Masters in Education at a cost of €10,000 plus. After graduating, these teachers have little chance of gaining secure employment and suffer the indignity of inferior terms and conditions compared to their colleagues who entered teaching just a year before them. These are the issues at the heart of the second-level teacher supply crisis.”
Mr Curtin said that applications to second-level teacher courses dropped by 62% between 2011 and 2017. Applications for 2018 have dropped further and as a consequence the closing date has been extended.
“The Government must act immediately to tackle the key issues behind teacher shortages if it wants to ensure all our young people have access to quality education. The ASTI will not countenance short-sighted measures which exacerbate inequalities and do nothing to address the attractiveness of teaching as a career.”
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