Primary schools still hiring retired teachers for substitute work

Retired teachers are still working in primary schools, despite the fact that thousands of teaching graduates are struggling to find work.

According to figures published in the Irish Independent, during the past six weeks this term, 140 retired teachers have been hired for substitute work in primary schools around the country.

The Education Minister Ruairi Quinn introduced strict new rules recently, designed to ensure that substitute work goes to unemployed, newly qualified teachers.

However, the president of the Irish Primary Principals Network, Gerry Murphy, has said schools in some rural areas are often left with no option but to hire retired teachers.

Mr Murphy said: "Although there are 1,350 on our substitute teacher database, 500 of those are concentrated in Dublin and the majority of the remainder are concentrated in areas with high density populations.

"Because if you are a young teacher looking for work, there is a higher chance that you will get a call first thing on Monday or Tuesday morning if you are located in areas of high population, where there is a large number of schools."