Education ‘at risk’ as teachers wait 10 years for jobs

SECOND-level students are at risk of lower quality education because teachers face waiting up to a decade to get permanent jobs after qualifying, a union has claimed.

With more than half of second-level teachers under the age of 30 on temporary contracts of a year or less, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said most spend a number of years moving between schools in the early stages of their careers. More than one-in- four second-level teachers do not have permanent jobs and fewer than 10% get a full-time permanent position within a year of graduation.

The ASTI is proposing a one-year induction programme for all newly qualified second-level teachers and changes in how staff are allocated to schools.

In a policy document published at the weekend, the union said the current situation, in which most new teachers are only allocated limited weekly teaching hours, is damaging to the quality of the profession and the service schools are expected to provide.

“We must move away from the hours culture in second-level schools. Research is unequivocal in terms of the influence of teacher quality on learning outcomes and on raising educational standards,” it said. “In an age of ongoing and unprecedented economic and social change, teacher quality must become a central focus of overall education policy. Current entry models into teaching are potentially undermining such quality,” the ASTI document said.

It points to difficulties experienced by teachers who hold set hours rather than permanent posts.

These include integrating into the team culture of permanent staff and lack of exposure to learning from experienced teachers. The union said that these non-permanent teachers represent almost one-fifth of staff in some Irish second-level schools.

“These young teachers have spent four or five years studying and training so they can make a positive contribution to our schools. Instead they find they have little prospect of gaining anything but precarious employment for some time; often seven or eight years,” said ASTI president Joe Moran.

He said induction years used in Finland and Scotland, where newly qualified teachers work with non-exam classes and are mentored by experienced teachers, would benefit the education service.

The proposals were raised at a weekend ASTI conference where Education Minister Mary Coughlan met newly qualified teachers.