New Minister must address teacher shortage crisis
New Minister must address teacher shortage crisis - The Labour Party
- 75% of schools report no applicants
Labour’s Eoghan Kenny TD has slammed the government’s failure to address the teacher recruitment and retention crisis following stark new figures released this morning by the Principals and Deputy Principals Association. The survey found that 75% of schools had experienced no applicants for vacancies in the last six months.
Deputy Kenny said:
“These figures are a damning indictment of the government’s failure to act on a crisis that every teacher, principal, and parent can see. As a secondary school teacher myself, I am acutely aware of the serious issues in recruitment and retention, and yet this new Programme for Government from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Regional Independents offers no real solutions.
“It is all well and good for the government to talk about reducing the pupil-teacher ratio to 19:1 or expanding subject choice, but where are the teachers to deliver this? The reality on the ground is that schools simply do not have the staff, and the problem is only getting worse.
“We also know that teachers are struggling under enormous workloads, leaving them with no capacity to retrain or upskill. Meanwhile, newly qualified teachers are looking abroad to countries where they are offered better pay and conditions. The government’s failure to address these core issues is pushing more and more educators out of the profession and out of Ireland.
“The Programme for Government is completely lacking in substance when it comes to pay and conditions, and principals and teachers alike feel ignored by the Department. The new Minister for Education has a serious task ahead of her. We need an education system where teachers are properly resourced, respected, and valued.
“The government must act urgently. One immediate step would be the establishment of a teacher staffing taskforce to tackle the crisis head-on, as we in Labour called for in our manifesto. This could look at a range of pressing issues, including casualisation, pay scale credits for teachers returning from abroad, and shortening the PME to one year. These are practical solutions that could make a real difference.
“The Minister for Education must now come forward and make a clear statement on these shocking figures. Schools across the country are at breaking point – we need leadership, and we need action now.”