Secondary school teachers will be permitted to work for up to 140 extra hours in the coming academic year to plug staffing gaps caused by shortages in key subject areas.
The move follows reports from schools that many are struggling to recruit teachers in subjects including Irish, maths, woodwork, metalwork, home economics and others.
Teacher shortages are especially acute in the Greater Dublin Area where many schools say staff have relocated to other parts of the country in search of more affordable property or rents.
Second-level teachers are typically contracted to teach a maximum of 22 hours a week.
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A teaching hours extension scheme was introduced last year which allowed teachers to work an additional 105 hours during the academic year.
The Department of Education has extended it to 140 hours this year, in recognition of the ongoing challenges facing schools.
Figures supplied to The Irish Times indicate that the scheme was widely used in about 40 per cent of second-level schools last year.
Several thousand teachers worked an additional 36,000 hours in schools, or an average of almost 20 hours each.
Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, said the scheme has been introduced last year on foot of lobbying by schools.
He said the teaching hours extension scheme gave schools greater flexibility to fill gaps such as sick leave or maternity leave with an experienced teacher from its staff if it was unable to recruit a substitute.
“It is not a long-term measure, but it can reduce disruption in schools. Teachers are not paid at an overtime rate, so they are not doing it for the money. They are doing it because they don’t want to see students negatively impacted,” he said.
Mr Crone said teacher supply shortages at second level are, anecdotally, hitting schools in the Greater Dublin Area the hardest.
He said teachers with several years’ experience, and who have secured contracts, are tending to move to other parts of the country where property or rental costs are more affordable.
“In some schools west of the Shannon, for example, they are out the door with applications. One school had 17 applications to cover for a woodwork teacher on a career break. Some are leaving full-time posts in Dublin to take maternity leave cover posts,” he said.
“If there is a trend, it’s that those teachers with four to five years of experience are moving out of Dublin. They want to buy, but they can’t afford to.”
He said the coming fortnight will be crucial for many schools that are still trying to recruit to cover staffing gaps.
Mr Crone said he hoped newly qualified teachers would consider working in the capital, where there were more opportunities due to staffing shortages.
One Dublin school principal said they were without a woodwork or metalwork teacher for most of the year and was still struggling to fill the position.
Michael Finn, principal of Gorey Community School, the largest post-primary school in the country with 1,600 students, said his school has benefited from more teachers leaving the capital.
“The shortages are impacting, but not in the horrific way it is affecting some of my Dublin colleagues. I’ve noticed an increase in more experienced teachers, with CIDs [contracts of indefinite duration] or posts of responsibility, leaving Dublin and moving here,” he said.
“I advertised for a business teacher post recently and was able to draw up a shortlist of seven candidates, six of whom had CIDs. That is a positive for us. Our location is a huge advantage. Property prices are lower. The extension to the N11 means teachers can commute from Wexford town, which is also more affordable.”
The teaching hours extension scheme, meanwhile, is open to all secondary teachers on a voluntary basis.
Those employed under this scheme must have the necessary qualifications for the subject area for which the substitution is required.
