Retired teachers get subbing work despite crisis

SCHOOLS are still giving substitution work to hundreds of retired teachers despite an unemployment crisis for thousands of teachers who can’t get work.

Figures from the Department of Education show almost one-tenth of subbing hours are provided to retired staff despite Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe’s plea with school boards to give work to recent graduates trying to gain experience.

The payroll data for September and October shows 861 retired teachers were used by the country’s 3,300 primary schools. At almost 500 second level schools for which figures were available, 193 retired teachers were employed in the same period and worked 6,321 hours or an average 32.75 hours each.