Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

158. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of days worked by substitute teachers in primary schools in the school year 2016-2017; the number of days of absence by primary teachers for which substitute teachers could have been employed in the same period; the number of substitute days worked in primary schools in 2016-2017 by retired teachers and unqualified persons acting in place of a teacher; if his attention has been drawn to the concerns being expressed by school management and teacher representative bodies regarding the shortage of available substitutes in cases in which teachers are absent from work; and the steps he plans to take to deal with such concerns. [47812/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have been in a position to significantly expand the recruitment of teachers at primary and post primary. Some 2,300 new teachers were recruited in 2016-2017 and 2,900 will be recruited in 2017-2018. That figure of 2,900 is 21% more than the number announced in budget 2017 so we have in fact been able to recruit more new teachers than we have announced. All of the 2016-2017 posts have been successfully filled and the process for filling the additional posts in the current year is almost complete. We are successfully filling the posts that we are making available.

Data is entered at school level to the On Line Claims System (OLCS), which records all absences (substitutable and non-substitutable) for all school staff members paid directly on the Department’s payroll and through which claims for substitution are made. The Deputy should note when considering the data that in some cases the rules governing absences and the employment of substitutes provide that the leave absence is not substitutable. Some examples of cases where a substitute claim is not recorded against a substitutable absence are as follows:

- Professional Teacher Development- In some cases schools close for the provision of professional development training for the new primary curriculum. Absences for professional teacher development are normally substitutable but if the school is closed then no substitutes are required.

- Force Majeure/Illness in Family - The first day of this leave absence is not substitutable.

- Self-Certified (Uncertified) Sick Leave - This leave is no longer substitutable except in smaller schools for multiple absences on the same day.

The Deputy should be aware therefore that the data in the table include days for which a substitute is not required or where a substitute is not employed under particular leave arrangements but which nevertheless are recorded on the OLCS as a substitutable absence.

In the school year 2016/17 there were six hundred and seventy nine retired teachers who returned to teach and they worked approximately nineteen thousand substitute days.  

Under the terms of Circular 25/2013, it is possible to employ unregistered persons in place of registered teachers in limited circumstances only and for very limited periods. The maximum number of days that an unregistered person can be employed at any one time is five days. There are currently three thousand seven hundred primary schools. Based on information obtained from the Department’s database, the managerial authorities of primary schools in the school year 2016/2017 employed three thousand six hundred persons who were not registered with the Teaching Council at the time of employment. These persons were employed by the managerial authorities for approximately thirty two thousand substitute days.

I am aware that some schools have reported difficulties in recruiting substitute teachers at primary level. Due to the additional positions being created in 2016 and 2017, young teachers now have greater opportunities to take on permanent positions, and as a result some schools may be experiencing issues in hiring teachers to fill temporary or substitute roles.

I have taken some immediate steps to ease some of these pressures. My Department informed all teachers retiring in 2017 that in order to remain eligible for employment in a state funded teaching post for a period of more than five consecutive days or to supervise the State examinations, a teacher must maintain his/her registration with the Teaching Council. My Department also increased the limits for employment while on career break at primary level to a maximum of 90 days in a school year. In addition, as a longer term measure, under my Department’s Gaeltacht Policy, an RFT is currently being developed for a new Irish-medium B.Ed. (primary teaching) ITE programme.

The Deputy will be aware of the report of the Technical Working Group on teacher supply, ‘Striking the Balance’. The report focusses on the development of a model of primary teacher supply and my Department is considering how the development of a model can be progressed, from within available resources. The Teaching Council, which has an advisory role in this matter, recently convened a consultative forum on teacher supply with relevant stakeholders with the aim of producing teacher supply proposals and I look forward to seeing the report from this forum which will further inform our thinking in this matter. 

I am currently reviewing with my Department other potential initiatives on teacher supply. In that context my Department intends engaging with the various stakeholders, including school management bodies and the HEA, regarding further actions in this area.

Table: Number of substitutable days and number of substitutable days where no substitute claimed

*Half school year

** Includes days where no substitute required (e.g. whole school closure for professional development) and days where substitute not due under leave arrangements (e.g. first day of force majeureleave)