Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very aware that primary and post-primary schools are experiencing challenges in recruiting substitute teachers. Newly qualified teachers, however, represent an additional source of supply for substitute and full-time posts in 2022 and 2023, with more than 3,600 primary and post-primary newly qualified teachers registered with the Teaching Council.

Significant additional posts have been allocated to the primary substitute teacher supply panels in areas where significant challenges in sourcing substitution continue. This brings the total to 610 posts on 151 panels covering more than 2,840 schools. These panels were introduced as a pilot from 2019 and have significantly expanded since their introduction. While these panels work very effectively in many instances and are fully staffed in more than 90% of cases outside of Dublin I am conscious there is always room for improvement. To this end I have asked officials to review fully the operation of the supply panels. I have asked them to consider whether their use could be made more effective to support schools and whether additional measures could be taken to recruit teachers where there are vacancies.

We have taken steps to alleviate some of the substitute supply pressures faced by schools. For the current school year job-sharing teachers may be employed to work in a substitute capacity. The limit on substitute work applying to teachers on career break has been suspended. Third and fourth year student teachers can register with the Teaching Council. More than 2,100 student teachers have applied for registration in this respect. Once registered, student teachers can be employed by a school to cover substitution of vacancies. As an example, approximately 800 second year Hibernia College professional master of education students have completed their latest school placement block and are available to the school system for the coming weeks.

At post-primary level the Department has recently put in place a scheme that allows teachers to teach additional hours in their subject area over the usual 22-hour limit, up to a maximum of 20 additional hours per term. Retired teachers who maintain their Teaching Council registration can also provide substitute cover. The Department has agreed a waiver of abatement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for such teachers for up to 50 days in each of the three calendar years from 2021 to 2023, inclusive. The Department also runs a comprehensive programme of work to support the supply of teachers and engages closely with school management bodies and other education stakeholders to inform this work. Today the national consultative forum on teacher supply, co-hosted by the Teaching Council and the Department of Education, is meeting as the Deputy referenced. This will include all of the key stakeholders in this area.

Higher education institutions have developed new four-year initial teacher education programmes in a number of post-primary priority subject areas, including Irish, maths, computer science and modern foreign languages. In addition, the Department fully funds teachers to participate in upskilling programmes in maths, physics and Spanish. The first cohort of participants, approximately 170 teachers, is expected to graduate from these programmes this year and more than 300 teachers will graduate in 2023. We are also commencing the development of new upskilling programmes in other target subject areas, such as Irish. The Department also has a scheme to allow post-primary schools to share teachers, the aim of which is to recruit teachers in high-demand subjects and give teachers a full-time teaching contract. I strongly urge schools to explore this option as a means of supporting recruitment. These measures are underpinned by the Teaching Transforms campaign which promotes the teaching profession and encourages students to follow a career in teaching. The campaign is supported by the dedicated webpage on gov.ie.

It is acknowledged that despite these important actions, which have helped to some extent, work remains to be done to address the teacher supply challenge, particularly to ensure the availability of sufficient substitute teachers. The Department of Education will continue to work closely and intensively with stakeholders on this important matter.

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