Plan needed to make teaching more attractive to grads
Reacting to results of a survey into staff recruitment by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland Labour Party education spokesperson, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has called on the government to take measures to make teaching an attractive option for graduates of key subjects.
Senator Ó Ríordáin said:
“Results of a survey by the TUI shows that there is a shortage of teachers and subjects areas such as Irish, maths, French, Spanish, physics and home economics.
“This survey confirms that the teaching profession cannot compete with private industry that renumerate language, maths and science graduates handsomely.
“Companies such as Facebook and Salesforce have said one of the reasons they are in Ireland is because of the quality of graduates if we are to sustain this level of foreign direct investment we need to ensure that students at second level have teachers in languages and STEM areas.
“Time and time again, I have called for the government to produce a roadmap to pay quality but knowing how inept are when it comes to dealing with Fine Gael public sector unions it may be a while before we see any movement on this.
“If the government were serious about addressing the teacher shortage in our schools and they could direct universities to lower the cost of the two year teaching Masters which on average costs over €10,000 in fees alone.
“Shiny campaigns like the Government’s latest ‘Teaching Transforms’ mean nothing unless the government are willing to make serious concessions to make teaching and attractive profession.“