Sir, – To start in the teaching profession and become registered with the Teaching Council, the aspiring teacher pays out a €90 registration fee, a €200 teacher education qualification assessment and €100 for one curricular subject assessment. Additional assessments are optional at a fee of €100 per subject, yet many teachers at a postprimary level teach more than one subject. Translation costs for documents, foreign police vetting, postage, etc, are all borne by the unemployed aspiring teacher. All in all the aspiring teacher can pay over €400 in his or her quest for registration. Féilte, the Teaching Council’s festival (where no expense was spared), was in stark contrast to the misery and stress in the lives of young aspiring teachers in their tortuous quest to become registered. And after all this, where are the jobs? – Yours, etc,
GERALDINE
FitzGERALD,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.