Mr. Ed Byrne:

One of my least favourite sayings from the crisis was "doing more with less" because doing more with less is not possible in the long term. Schools have gone through a period where they have used an old saying from the Second World War II or the Emergency, which is "make do and mend". Those who have made do and mended are the young. They are the teachers who come in to cover a class at 11 a.m. but end up hanging around the school all day in the hope of picking up something by the end of that day. They become auxiliary staff. They are put upon and it is difficult to say "No". If somebody is looking for work the next day, week, month or year, it becomes difficult to say "No" to somebody who says "You would not just-----?". It is one of the problems that leads to burnout. It will lead to a scenario like they have in Britain.

I attended some of the teacher conferences in Britain recently. Teachers are simply getting up and walking away within ten years because they feel deprofessionalised and undervalued. So far in this country we have managed to keep our teachers feeling somewhat valued. The issue of doing more with less and undervaluing teachers coming into the profession will be major issue as it will lead to burn-out. It is a difficulty.