New teachers ‘need mentors and support’

GREATER supports must be made available to growing numbers of new teachers in their first jobs, a union has said.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said the daunting task of entering the classroom for the first time as a qualified teacher could be made easier by providing mentoring from experienced staff and courses funded by the Department of Education.

Almost 2,000 new teachers began working in primary schools last September, but less than one-in-10 of them have access to such a guidance course.