Half of teachers’ work outside the classroom

TEACHERS are spending more than half their working time in activities outside the classroom, with average working weeks of up to 46 hours, a survey has found.

Although a full-time, second-level teacher is contracted to spend 22 hours teaching, the research for the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) found that they spend an average of 24 hours a week working outside timetabled teaching hours.

More than four in every five of the 442 teachers who took part in the survey reported that their administrative duties have increased in the last five years and almost three-quarters felt that supporting students with special needs had increased their workload. Almost half of those aged under 35 and 45% of those aged 35 to 44 are involved in extracurricular sports activities, according to the findings of the survey by research company Behaviour & Attitudes.