1,200 new second level teachers 'vital'

THE Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) has warned that at least 1,200 new teachers need to be employed at second level within the next five years or classroom overcrowding will reach an emergency state.

Statistics show there will be a sharp increase in the number of students attending second level schools, beginning in about five years' time. A 20% increase in the number of students in the next 15 years will mean that, by the year 2020/'21, the second level population will be over 400,000 an increase of 60,000.

"This may seem like a long time away, but the reality is that provision has not been made for our changing demographics," TUI general secretary Jim Dorney warned yesterday.