Almost 70 per cent of second-level schools have found difficulty getting qualified teachers and many have dropped subjects and reduced teaching hours as a result, according to a new survey of 408 schools.
More than half said they needed an Irish teacher, with almost one-third looking for a French teacher, according to the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland survey.
Some 69 per cent of principals surveyed found difficulty getting a qualified teacher for the school year 2000/2001. The union said the principals' alarming responses showed teaching was no longer seen as an attractive career.
Recent surveys have also revealed major shortages of teachers at primary level, with one school in Co Offaly recently forced to ask parents to supervise classes because no teacher could be obtained.
In the survey, some schools disclosed they used unqualified and/or retired teachers to fill staffing gaps. ASTI's general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, said the shortages also forced schools to drop subjects and reduce teaching hours.
In other cases principals arranged for students to take subjects at neighbouring schools because they could not provide them at their own school.
Apart from Irish and French, the greatest shortages related to science, maths, German and home economics. Some 19 per cent of principals said they had difficulty getting a maths teacher, while 18 per cent said the problem was sourcing a home economics teacher.
Principals were asked what subjects would be added to their curriculum and extra services had they sufficient teachers. Getting a resource teacher for special education was cited by 15 per cent, 13 per cent said they would add music to the curriculum, and 9 per cent said they would add Spanish.
Some 75 per cent of principals said they found it hard to get substitute or temporary teachers. Mr Lennon said this "underlines the crisis situation facing schools in terms of finding substitute or temporary teachers to replace colleagues on sick leave or who are engaged in professional development activities".
Some 90 per cent of principals had difficulty releasing teachers for oral and practical examinations. Several principals said they would not be releasing their teachers for next year's exams.
Principals were asked to outline the specific difficulties teacher shortages were causing them. One said his school had eight teachers in one subject in the space of two months.
Another principal said: "We had weeks of classes being untaught before I could find anybody. I had to coax a retired teacher to fill the gap for the year. I had tried the whole country for a replacement."
Another said: "I have grave worries about being able to continue to provide physics given the enormous difficulty I had getting a physics teacher this year."
Other principals were forced to deny teachers career breaks so they could maintain their numbers. Other schools borrowed teachers from neighbouring schools, while some schools attempted to get teachers from overseas.
eoliver@irish-times.ie