Irish teachers abroad: ‘Once you go it’s very hard to come back’

“My school is a two minute walk from the beach. So, on hot days, if I don’t have yard duty, I’ll pop down for a swim,” says Dara Blake (39), a primary schoolteacher in Melbourne.

Having taught very happily for five years in Ennis National School, Co Clare, the Liscannor native decided to satisfy a wanderlust to travel to Australia on a working holiday visa in 2012.

“Initially, I went for six months,” Blake says. “But here, with finding accommodation, a lot of the places, you have to sign up for a year’s lease, so that keeps you here a little bit longer.”

However, over time the move became more long-term. “I loved the healthy lifestyle, and the weather was a big draw as well,” he says.

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Since 2014, the fitness enthusiast has been working, latterly as vice-principal, in Sacred Heart, Sandringham, a school of 250 pupils in the southeast suburbs of the city, a half-hour journey from the city centre.

[ ‘A crisis like no other’: Is there a way to overcome the shortage of teachers? ]

With four Irish teachers on the staff, there is a very strong Irish influence. “A lot of the teachers instil the Irish culture in the school,” Blake says. “Every kid can bless themselves in Irish and for St Brigid’s Day, the children were learning about St Brigid.” The Irish have a very good name in Melbourne “especially in education”, he adds.

Pay and conditions are additional draws, with the former being about a third more than that in Ireland. Schools in Australia are “unbelievable”, Blake says, with swimming pools, running tracks and they always have resources.

However, parents have high expectations and will email teachers outside of school hours expecting a prompt response and will also pop into the classroom. “You’re kind of always on,” Blake says.

Regarding the recent proposal in Ireland to suspend career breaks for new applicants in an effort to address the shortage of teachers – which is expected to be shelved – Blake says this would merely be a band aid. “You need to look after your teachers, otherwise large parts of the economy doesn’t work. Such a move will turn people away from teaching.”

[ Career breaks for teachers may be suspended in response to staff shortages ]

Joanna Byrne (31), from near Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, has been teaching for the last two years in a Catholic primary school in Wentworth, on the westerly outskirts of Calgary, Canada.

“They [the Irish Government] don’t look after you [as a teacher],” Byrne says, however she is keen to stress that she is “proud” to come from Ireland, a place she “dearly loves”, especially when returning to see family and friends.

In 2016 she and her fiance, who works in construction management, moved to Auckland, New Zealand, where she also worked as a primary schoolteacher.

However, with a desire to start a family combined with the extremely high price of housing in New Zealand, the pair came to the realisation that they would have to leave.

Byrne’s fiance previously lived in Calgary and with its outdoors lifestyle, more affordable way of living and the eight-hour direct flight to Ireland, they decided to move there in 2020.

Byrne lives in Bankview, a mere 11 minute drive southwest from the city centre, and just a 15 minute commute to her school.

There is a “massive” Irish community in Calgary, Byrne says. “You can’t go for a coffee without meeting an Irish person and the GAA club is also very active.”

The proposal floated in December to suspend career breaks for teachers in Ireland would be an “awful decision”, she says. Instead of helping to increase the availability of teachers, it would “have the opposite effect”, she feels.

Byrne initially intended to emigrate for one year, “but once you go it’s very hard to come back”, she says. “There are more opportunities abroad. Day-to-day I don’t think we’d be as happy in Ireland compared to Calgary.”

While she feels that “no one gets into teaching for the pay”, the pay cuts for post-2011 entrants was “very unfair”. In Alberta, the province in which Calgary is located, the pay for teachers is approximately 25 per cent more than that in Ireland, Byrne says.

[ Teachers who qualified abroad to be fast-tracked into Irish schools ]

While an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) report last year ranked Ireland among the top countries when it comes to teachers’ salaries – qualified teachers starting out on full hours can expect to earn close to €38,000 – teachers’ unions say take-home pay after tax, spiking inflation and an accommodation squeeze mean many cannot afford to rent and are heading abroad to countries with competitive salaries and lower living costs.

“Suspending the career break is not a positive growth mindset,” says Aoife McHugh (34), a secondary schoolteacher working in Abu Dhabi, and originally from Lanesborough, Co Longford.

After teaching for three years in Athlone Community College, Co Westmeath, she and her husband, a teacher in Roscommon, obtained career breaks in 2018.

Their initial motivation was to satisfy a wanderlust, along with other “push and pull factors” including the attractive salaries and the accommodation allowance and healthcare provided.

However, “money is not a primary motivation,” McHugh adds. “There is a lot more I can do here to further my own personal growth,” she says. “I’m doing an online Royal College of Surgeons diploma in positive health,” says McHugh, who also teaches yoga.

By day, she is an English teacher in a government secondary school which has 15 different nationalities among the staff. Her school is also an Apple distinguished school with all students having I-pads.

McHugh says she feels “blessed” regarding discipline among her students, with a teacher-student relationship based on “mutual respect”. During Ramadan there are more restrictions, with staff refraining from eating and drinking in front of the students.

While she receives no midterm breaks, recently her school has been finishing on a half day on Fridays, allowing her to make the most of weekends.

For her first year working in Abu Dhabi, McHugh was a member of a GAA club. However, having previously been a talented member of the Rathcline senior team in Lanesborough for many years, McHugh knew the commitment involved and with her responsibilities outside of work increasing, decided to take a step-back.

There are also challenges to living in Abu Dhabi such as the absence of family and friends, with whom McHugh keeps in almost daily contact. “Illness and sickness can be difficult for those who are away from family,” she says. “But your friends here become your family.”

Still, “Ireland feels near”, McHugh says, being only an eight hour flight away, and her parents are happy to travel to Abu Dhabi to meet up with her and her husband.

At present, some 3,153 teachers – across primary and post-primary level – are on career break this academic year, up from 2,375 last year and from 1,535 ten years ago.

When asked about plans for suspending teacher career breaks, a Department of Education spokesperson said “no decision will be made with respect to current career break arrangements without consultation with the education partners”.

“Shelving the career break for teachers would be hypocritical,” says Ross Taylor (36), who works in a secondary school in Hammersmith, west London, but hails from Laytown, Co Meath.

“I see the Minister for Education herself is on a career break,” he adds. “They should make it a more attractive profession. They should be supporting people to buy houses. It’s not rocket science.”

Since September last, the Meath man has been teaching wellbeing to students in class groups and individually. While unqualified at the moment, he will begin a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course in May.

The majority of Taylor’s students come from very low socio-economic backgrounds and may not have secured an A-level course due to poor results in their GCSE’s.

As attitude to learning and truancy can be issues for these students, he and his colleagues in the Inclusion Department, provide them with emotional support.

He also teaches the students about physical health, mental health, suicide awareness and bullying. One in five of the students are affected by a mental health issue, including self-harm and suicide.

Despite playing such a crucial role in the school, Taylor is classified as support, not teaching staff, and is paid less than £22,000 (€24,770) annually, which he finds to be very challenging to live on.

He shares a bedroom in a hostel near Hyde Park, central London for £600 per month, takes the bus instead of the tube to work and avails of the £3 subsidised meals at the school.

“The work can be extremely challenging,” Taylor says. “Due to the situations that the students have found themselves in, you have to work very hard to earn their trust. But when you do, it is very rewarding.”

Taylor is very critical of the lack of government funding made available for these students. “Even if the student is very intelligent, without proper support, it can be very difficult for them to reach their full potential,” he says.

In tandem with beginning his PGCE course, he has also secured a teaching role in a school in Stevenage, north London, where he hopes to gain experience in managing the stresses of teaching.

Despite finding London to be “a pleasant place”, due to his low income and how expensive the city is, he finds it very difficult to have a social life. “I’m looking forward to leaving,” he says.