Cutbacks slash teaching posts

TWO out of three primary schools have lost English language teaching posts as a result of Government cutbacks, a teachers’ union survey has found.

In the budget, the Department of Education reintroduced a cap on the number of teachers of English as an additional language (EAL) to two per school from this autumn, with some concessions allowed in alternative plans earlier this year.

A study by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) found of the 101 schools with EAL staff last year, 63 had lost one or more of them when they reopened this month.