Hundreds of teachers from Northern Ireland could take up posts in the Republic, Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said today.
Speaking after a meeting with Northern Ireland counterpart Caitriona Ruane at a North/South Ministerial Council in Downpatrick, Mr O'Keeffe said: “We will be encouraging teachers in the North who feel they might like to travel South".
He said: “We still have an inadequate supply of teachers. Irish might be a problem for some teachers in the North but we have a five-year period where we will help them to access the working knowledge and the Irish language that will assimilate them into the school.”
There is a surplus of teachers in Northern Ireland, with schools facing tightening budgets. Conversely the Department of Education here is struggling to fill its quota of available places.
Traditional requirements for knowledge of Irish have been waived to allow a spell of learning for new teachers.
Mr O’Keeffe said: “We could use the expertise and professionalism in teaching that is available (in Northern Ireland).”
Ms Ruane said she was keen to encourage young teachers struggling to find work to look South.
“The more mobility we can have north and south the better because there’s a lot of good practice which we can learn and share from,” she added.
She said the meeting, which included presentations from local primaries, had been a success.
“The south needs teachers but one of the obstacles is in the area of transfer of pensions,” she added.
“One of the decisions made today was in relation to looking at mobility of pensions in the whole area of teachers.”
Ministers also agreed progress on helping disadvantaged children from a Traveller background, many of whom are coping with poor numeracy and literacy standards.
Ms Ruane added: “The key issue was under-achievement and how we deal with this.”