Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 November 2021
532. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 126 of 20 October 2021, if the matters raised by a school principal (details supplied) in County Louth in respect of substitute teaching panels will receive a response; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52706/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department continues to engage with the education stakeholders on the issues raised about the current difficulty in accessing substitutes for teacher absences.
As part of the COVID-19 supports provided to schools in 2020, additional funding of €41.2 million was allocated to provide primary schools with substitute staff.
This funding allowed for the expansion of the Primary Schools Substitute Teacher Supply Panels from a pilot scheme consisting of 6 base schools to 132 substitute teacher supply panels nationwide, with almost 380 newly appointed supply panel teachers employed, providing substitute cover to over 2,500 schools across the country.
A review of the supply panels has taken place and approximately 100 additional teachers are being added to existing/new areas where significant challenges have been demonstrated in sourcing substitution. Engagement is taking place with the base schools to make arrangements for the recruitment of additional staff immediately.
In addition to the supply panel review outlined above, my Department continues to put in place a number of measures to address the difficulties accessing substitute teachers. The supply panels work alongside the existing methods of sourcing substitute teachers, such as the national substitution portal service Sub Seeker which matches available teachers with short term substitute vacancies in primary and post-primary schools. Schools can also make local arrangements to have their own regular substitutes to call on, if needed.
My Department has suspended the restrictions on the number of days that teachers on career break may be employed as substitutes and are also allowing job-sharing teachers to work additional hours if available.
The Teaching Council and my Department are also engaging with the higher education institutions (HEIs) providing Professional Master of Education (PME) of both primary and post-primary programmes to ensure that the HEIs introduce as much flexibility as possible in their course delivery to facilitate an increase in the amount of time which student teachers on school placement can provide for supervision and substitution, outside of their placement hours.
The Teaching Council has also contacted all registered teachers requesting those not currently working, or those who otherwise have capacity to be available for substitute posts, to make themselves available through Sub Seeker.
