Securing a full complement of qualified teachers is now one of the most serious challenges facing school principals across the country, but particularly in Dublin. In the most critical cases schools are having to cope with the inexorable fallout from teachers who have resigned suddenly over the summer to take up other contracts elsewhere in the country. Principals are now busily rejigging timetables in desperate attempts to plug gaps and find “creative solutions”.
For many it’s a case of settling for the least worst option to try to provide a functioning timetable for September. There are a number of schools in Dublin where subjects such as woodwork and engineering are currently being eliminated from the curriculum because of the absence of teachers. Equality of access to education is dealt yet another blow, this time with a curtailed subject choice being offered to Dublin students because of the inability to recruit staff, with subjects like woodwork, metalwork and home economics among the worst affected.
The roots of this crisis lie in the failure to plan. Over a decade ago we knew this crisis was coming down the tracks. In 2012 the Sahlberg Report highlighted the issue of teacher supply as a potential weakness in our education system, and called for the urgent development of a more effective model of teacher supply.
Unfortunately neither the Department of Education nor the Teaching Council seemed to share this sense of urgency. It wasn’t until 2018 that a teacher supply steering group was set up within the department. Its subsequent actions failed to address the growing crisis in teacher supply in any meaningful or sustainable manner.
It is difficult to get an accurate picture of the full scale of the problem. For the past two years, principals have been asked to complete the Department of Education’s survey on unmet teacher and subject demand. The purpose of this annual survey is to collect information on the subjects for which schools cannot fill vacancies. It is a pivotal tool for gathering essential information on the subjects for which schools face difficulties in filling vacancies, and enables the department to gain valuable insights into the challenges faced by schools. The survey results have, however, been embargoed and are therefore unavailable.
What we do know is that the teacher supply crisis can only really be addressed with a combination of short-term interventions and longer-term solutions. The measures taken thus far have fallen into the former category, such as the easing of restrictions for those on job-share and career breaks, the teaching hours extension scheme, and encouraging retired teachers back to the classroom.
We need to go further. If we really want to grapple with the current urgency and immediacy of the issue we need to be more creative and take bold action. For example, school inspectors and teachers seconded to various agencies who are fully qualified, Garda-vetted and expert in their field could be asked to return to the classroom as a temporary emergency measure.
If the reality is that students are going to have to sit in classes and not be taught in certain subjects for weeks or months on end we must invest in alternative or supplemental tuition. For example, many teachers give grinds throughout the year to supplement their income. A DES-sponsored programme could be initiated to pay these teachers to teach evening or weekend classes in schools in subjects where there are deficits. The incentive here for these teachers would have to be flexibility and competitive payment. Consideration may have to be given to adjustments to Leaving Cert exam papers for students who have been without tuition for a significant period of time.
The most recent attempt to address the teacher supply crisis is the €2,000 incentive payment next summer for newly-qualified teachers who take up a full-time teaching role this year. The focus on recruitment through a single payment, however, overlooks the crucial issue of teacher retention.
Retaining teachers requires addressing broader issues like the cost of living and lack of affordable accommodation. This brings us to the longer-term solutions.
Brave political and financial decisions, not just short-term interventions, are required to bring about real and substantive change and improvement in teacher recruitment and retention. Dr Brian Fleming and Prof Judith Harford from UCD have explained these as restoring the common basic salary scale for teachers, more secure contracts and promotional opportunities, a reduction in red tape and restructuring and reducing the cost of the current models of teacher training.
We also need to introduce measures to reduce the “leakage” of qualified teachers choosing other careers, to encourage those working in the system to remain and to motivate others already abroad to return, particularly to Dublin. A Dublin weighting allowance should be urgently considered for teachers and other key workers to help pay for high costs in accommodation, transport and childcare in the city, and to help retain these experienced and qualified professionals.
In all these attempts to bolster teacher supply an important caveat remains – teaching is not for everyone. Offering immediate permanent contracts is not the answer. While there are 20 per cent more teachers qualifying compared to five years ago and a record 122,000 teachers registered with the Teaching Council, they may not all be suited to teaching. We must not take our eye off the ball in terms of quality in the profession. We must ensure that new entrants to the teaching profession have the best possible start to their careers, and that teaching in Ireland continues to attract and retain high calibre teachers.
John McHugh is the principal of Ardscoil Rís, Dublin
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