Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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102. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans that are in place to deal with teacher shortages given that larger classes are being combined with no substitute teachers to cover illness or leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58443/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that some schools are currently experiencing challenges in recruiting teachers and I am conscious of the impact this potentially has on our schools.

Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) represent an additional source of supply for substitute and full-time posts in 2022/23 with over 3,600 primary and post-primary NQTs registered with the Teaching Council this year.

The Department of Education runs a comprehensive programme of work to support the supply of teachers and engages closely with the school management bodies and other education stakeholders to inform this work.

Higher Education Institutions have developed new 4-year initial teacher education undergraduate programmes in a number of post-primary priority subject areas including Irish, mathematics, computer science and modern foreign languages.

In addition, the Department funds upskilling programmes for post primary teachers in mathematics, physics, and Spanish. Approximately 170 teachers are expected to graduate from these programmes this year and over 300 teachers in 2023.

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 would strongly urge schools to explore this option as a way of meeting teacher demand.

In May 2021, the Department published an updated technical report “Developing a Teacher Demand and Supply Model for Ireland 2020-2038”, which includes projections of teacher supply and demand at a general level to 2038.

The report projects a decrease in demand for primary teachers to 2036 while at post-primary level the downward trend in demand starts from 2024.

Work is ongoing to produce projections of post-primary teacher demand and supply on a subject level basis. It is intended to publish a draft report, for consultation with the education stakeholders, in the coming weeks.

The Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN), in line with the Teacher Supply Action Plan, has developed a portal for the recruitment of teachers to long-term teaching positions which I understand will be available in the coming weeks.

IPPN also operates Sub Seeker, a service matching primary and post-primary teachers with substitute vacancies. Almost 12,000 teachers have registered with Sub Seekerto date.

Significant additional posts have been allocated to the primary substitute teacher supply panels in areas where significant challenges in sourcing substitution continue, bringing the total to 610 posts on 151 panels, covering more than 2,840 schools.

For the current school year, job sharing teachers may be employed to work in a substitute capacity and the limit on substitute work applying to teachers on career break has been suspended.

3^rdand 4^thyear student teachers can now register with the Teaching Council and over 2,100 student teachers have applied for registration. Once registered, student teachers can be employed by a school to cover substitutable vacancies.

At post-primary level the Department has recently put in place a scheme that allows teachers teach additional hours in their subject area over the usual 22-hour weekly limit, up to a maximum of 20 additional hours per term.

Furthermore, retired teachers who maintain their registration, can provide substitute cover and 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, 2021 to 2023 inclusive.

These measures are underpinned by theTeaching Transformscampaign, which promotes the teaching profession and encourages students to follow a career in teaching. The campaign is supported by a dedicated webpage on Gov.ie entitled teachingtransforms.

The Department of Education will continue, with the cooperation and input of the education partners, to develop and implement measures to address challenges faced by schools and to continue to support the supply of teachers.