The critical shortage of appropriately qualified teachers has been the subject of media attention and comment in recent weeks. To a large degree commentary has focused on the cost of accommodation and the impact this is having on teacher supply in urban areas. Indeed, this is a serious factor but it is important to recognise that it is just one of a number of relevant factors.
As we have outlined previously in these columns, the problem of an inadequate supply of teachers has been impacting negatively on schools and their students for over a decade. In this article we reflect on the issue as it impacts post-primary schools, but many of the challenges are similarly faced at primary level.
Various decisions in the last 12 years have contributed to the current crisis including the introduction in 2010 of a lower salary scale for new entrants to the profession, the reduction in the number of promotional posts and the ongoing casualisation of the profession whereby teachers are employed on less than full-time contracts.
The extension by an additional year of the teacher education programme to master’s level also immediately doubled the cost of securing the qualification
The extension by an additional year of the teacher education programme to master’s level also immediately doubled the cost of securing the qualification and meant that in the year the changeover took effect (2015), the numbers qualifying as teachers following the postgraduate route dropped dramatically amounting to a loss of approximately 1,000 post-primary teachers.
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For most of the last decade the Department of Education and the Teaching Council have allowed the problem to worsen without taking any remedial action. Finally, in March 2018, the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, established the Teacher Supply Steering Group (TSSG) which consisted largely of senior officials of the Department of Education, a representative of the Teaching Council and representatives of higher education institutions.
An obvious weakness in the composition of the group was the failure to include those at the coalface, in particular school leaders. At its first meeting, it was agreed that the TSSG would meet quarterly and an implementation group and other subgroups were established to address particular issues including devising a system for forecasting teacher numbers. A number of short and long term measures were identified by the group including the cost of the Professional Master of Education programme and the impact of current arrangements for continuing professional development.
The group noted particular problems in some subject areas including home economics, guidance, modern languages, Gaeilge, science and special education. Strangely, the TSSG did not list problems in areas such as engineering and wood technology but anecdotal evidence suggests that vacancies in these subject areas are difficult to fill. They also noted more acute challenges faced by Irish-medium schools. The recruitment difficulties applying in the Dublin area were also singled out for action.
A number of significant initiatives followed including the production of action plans and the development of a teacher demand/supply model. Various additional measures were implemented including altering the regulations so that teachers on job share/career break as well as retired teachers could undertake some teaching hours.
The need for greater diversity in the profession was recognised and steps taken to promote it. Supply panels were created, upskilling programmes were introduced and steps were taken to highlight teaching as an attractive choice among CAO applicants. Much less effective or pragmatic was the suggestion that schools could share teachers, demonstrating a complete lack of understanding within the Department, including within the Inspectorate it seems, of the complexities of school timetabling.
Collectively, the measures were not sufficient to address the issue in an effective or sustainable manner such that schools were left with serious gaps in filling certain teaching positions. The end result is that children and young people have been and continue to be taught by unqualified personnel. A related consequence is that some schools have been left with no choice but to drop particular subjects from their timetables.
In an information note circulated by the Department earlier this year, schools were reminded of the various measures in place to help them tackle the supply crisis. These included the fact that those on job share/career break could undertake substitute work, retired teachers could be employed for up to 50 school days without impacting on their pensions, and the availability of sub-seeker panels.
Despite these measures, schools continue to experience serious difficulties in recruiting suitably qualified staff. In response, the Minister has announced that teachers will be allowed to work “overtime”. Waiting until mid-November to announce a response to a problem that schools have been struggling with since the beginning of this academic year is less than helpful. The response is also a stopgap measure that will have limited impact as we saw when it was in place last year to deal with staffing shortages caused by Covid-19.
Records available on the website of the Department of Education seem to indicate that the TSSG, which hitherto met quarterly each year since 2018, has held no meeting whatsoever in 2022. Has the Minister for Education given up on finding comprehensive, long-term solutions to this serious problem?
Professor Judith Harford and Dr Brian Fleming are academics at UCD’s school of education
