Schools insist they are prioritising newly qualified teachers for work

PRIMARY principals have insisted that they are giving priority to newly qualified teachers for substitution work but said graduates could be taken off the dole if the Government set up a supply panel system.

Around 20 groups of primary schools around the country share teams of teachers to cover sick leave, administrative leave for principals and other absences, meaning there is no difficulty in arranging substitution or other cover at short notice.

The Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) said there is no reason this supply panel system could not be extended to cover every school in the country and create jobs for hundreds of unemployed teachers who have been probated by Department of Education inspectors.

“It’s just a matter of optics for the Department of Education because they would be full-time employees added to the public sector pay bill. But substitute teachers brought in on a day-to-day basis are paid at the same rate and it would take all these new graduates off the dole, so it would be cost neutral at worst,” said IPPN principal Pat Goff.

The organisation said figures highlighted by Fine Gael showing that almost 1,500 retired teachers were used by primary schools for substitute work last year do not reflect the reality since September.

“The figures refer to a time before the education cuts began to bite and in reality, principals are actively sourcing newly qualified graduates for substitute positions and only resort to employing retirees when no newly trained teachers are immediately available,” Mr Goff said.

The Irish Examiner reported last week that Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe has written to all primary and second-level schools asking them to prioritise recent graduates for any substitution and other work.

In response to the calls for a national supply panel, also raised by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) yesterday, his spokesperson said the large number of recently qualified teachers means schools should not have a problem finding cover.

“However, schools may have to think of new ways to ensure they are informed of the availability of local teacher graduates,” he said.

IPPN said almost 38,218 text messages have been sent to registered teachers in the last month alerting them of substitute work on its TextaSub facility, which has advertised more than 350 substitute vacancies since September 1.

INTO incoming general secretary Sheila Nunan accused the minister of dragging his feet on enactment of Section 30 of the 2001 Teaching Council Act, which would ban schools from employing anyone who is not qualified as a teacher.