Primary retirement age increases

A GROWING number of primary teachers want to retire early, but cannot do so because the Government is “forcing” them to stay in the classroom until they are 65, the INTO congress has heard.

Delegates called for a reversal of the Government’s decision to increase teachers’ retirement age from 55 to 65, claiming it was not in the best interests of children to have teachers working reluctantly until that age.

Of the 506 teachers who retired, in 2002, only 83, or 16.5%, stayed on until the compulsory retirement age of 65, INTO deputy general secretary Catherine Byrne told delegates at the annual conference in Kerry.