EducationAnalysis

No megaphones or slow handclaps: why Norma Foley can expect easier ride at this year’s teachers’ conferences

Teaching unions have signed up to a public sector pay deal by a margin of up to 85 per cent

Minister for Education Norma Foley at last year's Irish National Teachers' Organisation annual congress: Almost every lever at her disposal has been pulled. Photograph: Moya Nolan

Carl O'Brien's face
Carl O'Brien
Mon Apr 1 2024 - 16:40

Slow handclaps, megaphones and heckles are just some of the ways delegates have welcomed successive ministers of education to their annual Easter conferences over the years.

This year, though, it feels different.

For one, there is no looming threat of industrial action or burning row set to dominate.

In fact, all three teachers’ unions have just signed up to a 2½-year public sector pay deal worth about 10 per cent by a whopping margin of 80-85 per cent.

READ MORE

The deal, which has none of the hotly contested productivity measures which marked some previous agreements, looks set to guarantee industrial peace between now and June 2026.

It will bring starting pay for a teacher to around €46,000 and the top point to around €85,000; the first in a series of pay rises - a 2.25 per cent increase, backdated to January - is due shortly.

Yet there are clouds over proceedings in the form of what unions say is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis.

[ Schools ill-equipped to deliver Leaving Cert reforms, say science teachers ]

At second level, unions say there are hundreds of unfilled vacancies across the sector which are forcing schools to hire unqualified staff or narrow their subject choices for students.

At primary, difficulty finding substitute teachers is disrupting education and often leads to special education teachers being asked to plug gaps.

High accommodation and living costs, in particular, are regarded as the biggest factors behind the shortages, which are most acute in Dublin and other urban areas.

All three teachers’ unions will debate motions aimed at cushioning the cost of living for teachers, but it is difficult to see how many of them would make a decisive impact.

At the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) congress in Derry, which began on Monday, one motion calls for an allowance – similar to the London weighting allowance – to compensate for higher living costs in cities.

The move is not supported by other unions who argue that it is a blunt measure which would prove difficult to implement in an equitable manner.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) meanwhile, will debate calls for Irish teachers returning from outside Europe to be awarded pay increases for their service abroad, as well as calls to shorten the duration of the two-year professional master of education qualification which can cost in the region of €15,000.

[ Calls for Irish teachers to be rewarded for service abroad to ease supply ‘crisis’ ]

They might help but are hardly game-changing measures.

Minister for Education Norma Foley, meanwhile, can hardly be accused of standing idly by. Almost every lever at her disposal has been pulled: upskilling courses, boosting the proportion of student teachers in classrooms, encouraging retirees back into teaching, removing work restrictions for job-sharing teachers and those on a career break.

On paper, at least, there has been progress. There are 20 per cent more teachers qualifying compared to five years ago; there are a record 122,000 teachers registered with the Teaching Council; based on CAO application numbers, teaching remains a sought-after profession.

So, why are there still problems? For one, the Minister’s move to reduce class sizes to a historic low at primary level inadvertently intensified the problem. The creation of thousands of additional teaching posts for Ukrainian children and the special education sector has also tightened supply.

Other issues are outside her control, such as an economy at full employment where many sectors are short-staffed, as well as a housing crisis which is making it unaffordable for teachers to live in many urban areas. Many European countries are also experiencing shortages of teachers for similar reasons.

[ Half of younger teachers consider emigration due to living costs - poll ]

Potential solutions, such as affordable housing targeted at public sector workers, would likely take years and a wider shift in government policy. Demographics may also help over time: while enrolments are rising at second level, they are dropping at primary.

It seems likely, then, that at conferences this week the Minister will point to progress made in recent years, along with pledges to take further steps.

While there won’t be standing ovations, it seems likely that Foley will be able to draw some comfort in not having to contend with megaphones or slow handclaps this year.

LATEST STORIES