Irish Teacher: Don't give teachers Covid bonuses, spend the money on support instead

The state should keep its money for long term investments and proper supports for our most vulnerable. What better bonus could there be than that? Picture: iStock 

I wake up and, as is my bad habit, check Twitter. I’m met with an unusual level of teacher bashing – even by Irish standards.

"The majority of teachers did nothing." "Grab, grab, grab." So goes my Twitter feed.

Not too long after, I find the source of the problem. All three teachers’ unions have reportedly come out to say that we should be included in any bonus Covid payment because of our ‘extraordinary efforts’. The Twitter headline reads: 'Teachers demand to be included in Covid-19 bonus payments'.

Language matters. Who are these teachers making these demands? Not me. Not any teacher I know. I scan the article. The unions admit that no formal discussions have taken place, so I assume no real consultation with teachers has happened either.

Unions, I beg you to read the room. Newspapers, I beg you to refine your headlines.

Extraordinary efforts

I have zero interest in financial reward for the work I did over Covid. I didn’t go into my profession for the money. I went into it because I like young people and I like my subject.

The unions argue that teachers made "extraordinary efforts" over Covid. Well, we did. But other people did too, in a variety of ways. As a country, we are traumatised. We have lost loved ones, spent months without seeing friends, without causal touches, casual closeness. We are now, thankfully, entering a time of repair. We need to look forward together, not tear each other down.

And we will end up tearing each other down. And children will be at the centre of that conflict.

Research carried out by the University of Sussex in 2017, based on data from more than 10,000 students, identified healthy school-family relationships as a predictor of academic achievement. The impact of poor relationships between teachers and parents has been widely researched by Ofsted in Britain. The findings are unequivocal. 

What teachers are really interested in is increased funding for children – the children we work with, the people we care about. 

Teachers are really interested in the fact that we have a scant supply of carbon monoxide monitors, that we have no air filters and no antigen testing. Teachers worry that their class sizes are too big. Schools struggle without school buildings and sports facilities. 

Teachers are upset that we have the lowest rates of educational funding in the OECD. We are upset to hear that Carmona School in Co Dublin, which caters for pupils with learning disabilities, is losing therapists when their 37 children rely so crucially on them for their safety and wellbeing. These are the things that upset teachers. We are on the children’s side.

Rights and reform

Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, last week presented a survey to the Oireachtas stating that 65% of teachers were in favour of comprehensive reform of the Leaving Certificate. That’s what we’re talking about. We’re worried to read in international surveys that Irish students are more anxious than their overseas peers.

We’re worried that our primary schools are in breach of human rights because we offer young children no alternative provision during religion class. We worry when religion seeps into the teaching of non-religious subjects. We worry that our profession isn’t diverse enough because we demand that so many teachers share a Catholic ethos and that all primary teachers be fluent in Irish. These are the topics we discuss.

I am beyond frustrated at the disconnect I see between these headlines and the staffroom I work in.

We are a country in debt. In total, over €48bn – borrowed money – has been made available between 2020-2022. Our children are set to inherit this bill, along with a climate crisis, a lack of housing and an inadequate education and health service. As a teacher, that’s what I’d like our national headlines to be about. That’s where I’d like to see the money go.

Ireland has been named best in world for Covid resilience after a ‘startling turnaround’. More than 90% of our adult population has opted to be vaccinated. We have pulled together. That is the legacy we should want to leave behind. That should be what the generations after us hear about – not this nonsense about teachers demanding money when those demands have not been made.

The state should keep its money for long term investments and proper supports for our most vulnerable. What better bonus could there be than that?