Sir, – As a teacher and principal in a DEIS school, I fundamentally disagree that it is the lack of good teachers that is responsible for poor outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
Seán Flynn (Weekend Review, March 3rd) believes that “a new scheme of incentive payments would attract the best teachers to (DEIS) schools”. The incentives that were in place, posts of responsibility, have been removed and it will be ever more difficult to ask young teachers to take on more responsibility and work. However, teachers in DEIS schools don’t need to be paid more than in other schools, we just need to have the best resources and services at the disposal of our pupils and above all, we need poverty to be addressed.
We already have the best teachers, but we have a high proportion of children needing speech and language intervention who will wait up to 18 months for an assessment and will find it difficult or perhaps impossible to access a therapeutic programme.
The chances of getting an occupational therapy assessment are even slimmer.
Incentivising teachers through pay is not going to mitigate the effects of poverty and poor accommodation on our pupils, nor is it going to help young lone mothers to support their children through an expensive education system. It would be a big help however, if teachers in DEIS schools didn’t have to fundraise for the most basic materials and now even heat and light in our schools. – Yours, etc,