Permanent teaching post attracts almost 400 applications

A TEACHING job which attracted almost 400 applications is one of hundreds attracting the same level of interest around the country, according to the principal who had to sift through applications before filling the post last month.

The permanent job at St Joseph’s National School in Fermoy, Co Cork, became vacant when one of the staff retired. But principal Anne Fay only realised the crisis facing newly-qualified teachers when the parcels of CVs started to arrive at the school from the local postal sorting office.

“We got 399 applications in a few weeks, I’d say most of them were from people who had just graduated or with up to three years’ experience. Many were people who had left other careers to train as a teacher based on the idea from the Government that there was guaranteed work in primary schools,” she said.