Paul Murphy
Question:113. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education her plans to resolve teacher shortages in the coming school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31654/23]
View answerThursday, 29 June 2023
Questions (113)
Written answers
The recruitment of teachers is a priority area of action for the Department given the importance of ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have available to them qualified, engaged, and supportive teachers to support them in their learning.
The Department is undertaking a comprehensive programme to support the supply of teachers, including:
• Primary substitute teacher supply panels will continue to operate in 2023/24. The arrangements for their operation are being finalised.
• Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who qualify outside Ireland and apply before 1 February 2024 will continue to be able to complete induction (Droichead) in Ireland. This measure seeks to enhance the supply of NQTs available to schools and is particularly relevant for Irish teachers who have studied and qualified abroad and who may wish to return to the Irish education sector.
• 3rd year undergraduate teachers will be eligible to apply for registration with the Teaching Council under registration Route 5 (Student Teachers). More than 2,700 student teachers registered under Route 5 last year. This initiative supports the employment of student teachers to cover substitutable vacancies.
• 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 has been agreed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. A communications campaign has also been launched to encourage retired teachers to take up short-term substitute positions.
• Following on 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, including teachers working abroad who wish to apply for posts here. I am pleased to note that the portal was launched on 26 June and has begun advertising posts.
In addition to the above, a number of new measures have recently been put in place:
• The implementation of a pilot of the teacher sharing scheme in a small number of post primary schools. The pilot teacher sharing scheme will facilitate two schools to collaborate to provide high priority subjects, and to enhance the teaching hours available for those teachers employed on less than full hours.
• Publication of a request for tender for a programme to increase the number of teachers registered to teach Irish in post primary schools, to commence in 2024.
• Additional supports for post primary schools to recruit teachers through Turas Abhaile. Turas Abhaile is an initiative of the post-primary school management bodies and National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) which has assisted teachers based abroad to return teach in Ireland since September 2019. The Department recently approved the provision of additional funding to the ACCS that will allow Turas Abhaile to expand their services to include targeted recruitment and marketing campaigns, and the provision of direct support to post-primary schools that experience recruitment challenges.
Measures targeted at supporting the long-term supply needs of the system are also already in place, including:
• At primary level, I approved 610 additional places on ITE programmes over the next two academic years (2023/24 and 2024/25).
• At post-primary level, the Department has increased the number of places on teacher upskilling programmes in mathematics, Spanish and physics. The programmes are delivered outside of class time and are offered at no cost to the teacher. Approximately 170 places were provided in the first intake across the three programmes with an increase in places to over 300 in 2023. The Department is also considering additional upskilling programmes in other priority subject areas.
• The Teaching Transforms campaign continues to promote the teaching profession and encourage students to follow a career in teaching. The campaign uses digital, radio and video media, and is supported by a dedicated webpage, www.gov.ie/teachingtransforms. It should be noted that at this point CAO first preference choices for post-primary teaching have increased this year by 11%.
The Department is also considering a range of additional measures for 2023/24, including the continuation of the teaching hours’ extension scheme in post primary schools and measures to enable those teachers who are job-sharing or on career break to undertake substitute work.
The Department meets on a regular basis with the school management bodies and the teacher unions on this very important issue and we will continue to work intensively with all stakeholders to develop and implement creative solutions to address the teacher supply challenges facing schools.