Teachers report ‘beyond historic’

IRISH teachers have criticised a report which says they are among the best paid in the world as “beyond historic”.

The OECD report, Education at a Glance, says Irish primary school teachers are the second highest paid among 33 OECD countries, while secondary teachers are third or fourth highest paid.

According to the report, primary school teachers here earn an average of $60,355 compared with the OECD average of $38,914 and the EU average of $39,735.

“At primary level, Irish teachers are better paid in absolute terms than teachers in other countries. The relative position of primary level teachers, here, improves as they move from the minimum to the maximum of the pay scale. At secondary level, Irish teachers are also better paid than elsewhere,” the report states.

However, the salary figures are based on data from 2008 pay levels and do not take into account public service pay cuts such as the pension levy of 7.5% and pay cuts of 6.5%.

Unions have hit out at the report, saying it gave a historic view of teacher pay.

Teachers’ Union of Ireland president Bernie Ruane said the report was “beyond historic” in terms of its current relevance.

However, she pointed out that key indicators, not based on economic factors, endorse the job being done by Irish teachers.

“The survey unambiguously highlights the large volume of work carried out by Irish teachers, with the number of teaching hours at second level (735) vastly exceeding the OECD average of 679. By way of local comparison, the figure for England is 714 hours,” said Ms Ruane.

General secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation Sheila Nunan said: “At primary level, the report shows Irish teachers teaching 20% longer than the EU-21 average, the third highest of 31 countries. On average Irish teachers teach three additional pupils per class and Irish classes remain the second highest in the EU.

“In addition, Ireland’s spending on non-teaching staff in schools is significantly lower than the OECD average,” she added.