Making religion an optional subject for students at hundreds of second-level schools has forced trainee teachers to look for work abroad, an educationalist has warned.

Members of one of the country’s teaching unions are set to ignore a recent “ham-fisted” Department of Education demand to provide alternative arrangements for students who opt out of religious instruction.

Education Minister Richard Bruton has declined to say what penalties, if any, teachers will face should they strike over the lower-pay structure for post-2011 recruits.

Almost half of new entrants to post-primary teaching do not think they will be in the profession in 10 years’ time — but if pay parity with their longer-serving colleagues is restored almost all believe they would remain.

Institutes of technology could face disruption as lecturers are being balloted on industrial action up to strikes over delays to a review of their duties and workload.

Latest: The calls come after a new government report says it will cost €200million to address pay inequality for new entrants to the public sector.

The retention of teachers and new entrants in a sector with pay inequality is a threat to the education system, a union leader has warned.

Irish secondary schools could be facing industrial action.

Students celebrating their Junior Cert results could face breath tests this evening.

Teacher unions have welcomed the highlighting of unequal pay by Mary Mitchell O’Connor, even if her view is not supported by others at Cabinet.

Latest: The executive council of the Teacher’s Union of Ireland has said it will meet this evening to discuss the agreement.

Joe Leogue reports from the Teachers’ Union of Ireland annual congress where equal pay for equal work was called for “as a matter of justice”.

The Minister for Education is set to hear calls for pay rises for teachers at unions' conferences this week.

Nearly one third of second-level teachers who began their careers in the past see themselves in a different job within a decade, a survey for their union has found.

As they hold their annual conferences this week, teaching unions are ratcheting up calls for pay parity over the reduced rates paid to people qualified after 2011.

The timeframe for the establishment of technological universities remains uncertain as Education Minister Richard Bruton prepares to discuss concerns of staff and others about the plans.

Decade-old computers and IT equipment are stopping institutes of technology from being at the cutting edge of their fields, a new report warns. 

The Teachers' Union of Ireland says the Government needs to provide a time-scale for when allowances for newly qualified teachers will be re-introduced.

Schools or other employers who fail to prioritise part-time teachers to fill vacancies face the prospect of being named and shamed by a teacher union.

Fears that upskilling courses could be privatised and ‘dumbed down’ as a cash-saving measure have prompted a threat of industrial action by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland.

The damage continual cutbacks to front-line teaching posts, resources and supports are causing to teachers’ mental and physical health must be immediately investigated, a major union has warned.