Severe shortage of teachers in Ireland… Government looking for a solution
Dublin: Ireland’s teacher shortage is worsening. The government is looking into various solutions. Schools are having difficulty finding teachers for both long-term and short-term positions. Dublin is the hardest hit by this issue. This is attributed to issues with accommodation. To address the issue, job sharing rules have been liberalised. However, the teacher shortage is unsolvable. To address the problem, the Education Department has formed a task force. However, the crisis persists.
Norma Foley, Minister of Education, has stated that the issue will be resolved soon. President Rachel O’Connor brought the issue to the attention of Education Minister Foley at the annual meeting of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), an organisation of post-primary principals. It was then announced that steps would be taken to address the issue. The government is considering re-appointing retired teachers and extending post-primary teachers’ working hours. These systems were used to deal with the long vacations that occurred during the COVID period. The government website lists 218 post-primary school teacher vacancies and 242 primary school teacher vacancies. However, the principals point out that this is not the actual figure.
Meanwhile, the influx of children from Ukraine has created a crisis. More than 12,000 students have been enrolled in local schools. Over 600 positions have been reserved for schools with Ukrainian students. However, there are insufficient qualified Ukrainian teachers. The teaching council has begun registration and vetting, but only 81 people have applied.
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