Pádraig O'Sullivan
Ceist:7. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to address the shortage of teachers in post-primary schools. [19324/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 30 July 2020
Ceisteanna (7)
Freagraí ó Béal (8 píosaí cainte)
The Minister and I were both formerly schoolteachers and we understand the challenges in terms of teacher shortages in education. This is a problem that predates Covid and the plan to reopen schools in September. I welcome the recent announcement the Minister made regarding 1,080 additional teachers for post-primary schools. Will she provide the House with details on how these posts will be made available to schools?
My Department is working with education partners on measures to address anticipated teacher supply pressures arising from additional posts in the system and to meet the demand for teachers to fill short-term substitutable vacancies. I reiterate that the additional posts coming into the system are very positive news for the education sector. The Covid-19 environment is impacting on the willingness of teachers to travel and work abroad and we are hearing from post-primary schools that there are some improvements in supply this year as a result. In 2019-20, there were 2,800 teachers on part-time contracts and 1,300 job-sharing.
My Department is also working with the Teaching Council to raise awareness of teacher supply in post-primary schools, focusing on teachers who are currently registered but not actively working in schools. The higher education institutions are working on more flexible arrangements for student teacher placement in post-primary schools also. This will facilitate student teachers to be available to their school for substitution and supervision while on placement. Student teachers will be paid for any hours worked outside their required placement hours. The Teaching Council is also working to allow teachers who qualified abroad to register and complete their induction programme here in Ireland for the coming school year. This move alone could see up to 200 additional newly qualified teachers becoming available to the system at post-primary level.
The shortage of teachers has a dramatic knock-on effect on students, teachers and the whole education system. Lack of sufficient qualified teachers and staff instability threaten students' ability to learn and reduce teachers' effectiveness. Teacher shortages at post-primary level need to be tackled in the context of growing student numbers. Every year as principals scramble to fill posts for the following September, we hear of shortages in particular subject areas. A Teachers Union of Ireland survey has found that subjects like home economics, French, mathematics, Spanish and the sciences are particularly affected. Does the Minister envisage that the additional 1,080 posts which have been announced will go some way to addressing this problem?
I believe the additional posts that have been announced will be a substantial benefit to the post-primary sector. We are very confident of the various pools that are available from which to draw those additional teachers, including the 1,300 who are currently job-sharing. For the first time, we will lift the bar on the number of hours teachers can work in terms of job-sharing. For the 2,800 teachers who are on part-time contracts, those hours can be extended. We also have the pool of students who are returning home and those who may choose not to go abroad.
There are substantial avenues for us to find the resources.
Following engagement with the Higher Education Authority, new initial teacher education, ITE, undergraduate programmes in a number of priority subject areas were put in place by higher education institutions for September 2019. Programmes included maths, modern foreign languages and Irish. More new undergraduate ITE programmes are planned for commencement this September. They will include Irish, modern foreign languages, mathematics and computer science. All of this will be of assistance.
Another issue arising with the introduction of these new posts is the timeline for the completion of training. It is welcome that induction training is to be provided to school staff ahead of reopening. Where that training is due to take place and in schools where teachers have just started in new posts, there is likely to be a period where they will have to adjust or acclimatise to their new settings. While the training is welcome, does the design of the training take into account the potential for those taking part to be newly hired staff, given the situation with Covid-19?
Deputy Danny Healy-Rae may ask a brief supplementary question.
It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to ask a question of my former colleague from Kerry County Council, on which we worked together hand in hand for the people of Kerry, for the first time as Minister. It has to do with the hiring of teachers who may be asked to work in different schools. This also affects other workers. Surely the one Garda vetting process should do. Under the regulations as they stand, someone must be vetted two or three times if he or she will be working in two or three different schools. Surely it makes sense to vet someone just once and give him or her a ticket or card like any operator. That should be sufficient to allow a teacher to go to two, three or four different schools if that case arises. Perhaps the Minister might consider this suggestion. It would save a great deal of time. It takes two to three weeks to vet someone. If a person needs to be vetted a number of times, it will clog up the system and take extra time unnecessarily.
I thank the Deputies. Regarding the induction of new teachers, Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan will be aware that the training facility is for the whole school community, including teachers who are already working in a school environment and new teachers who will come on stream. I am conscious that, under normal circumstances, new teachers coming on stream must be particularly nurtured. The Deputy will be aware that there is always a designated teacher to ensure that. Equally, a lead response worker in terms of Covid-19 will be appointed to each school. This will be a further support, not just for the overall school body, but where key issues are identified for the new teachers who are coming on stream. Schools work as a team and in a collaborative manner, and I have every confidence that this is how it will work in future.
Regarding vetting, I am aware that there may be issues with the turnaround times for vetting. However, many teachers in the system are already vetted. Should there be a requirement for new vetting, we have discussed with the Garda National Vetting Bureau having an extremely quick vetting process for same, but most people in the education sector have already been vetted.