Third of student teachers have financial difficulties

The research, carried out by Mark Prendergast of University College Cork and Melanie Ní Dhuinn and Andrew Loxley of Trinity College Dublin, found that typically, those in training were down an average of €151 a week between what they spent and what they earned.

More than a third of student teachers have experienced "serious" or "very serious" financial difficulties, to the extent where some have considered dropping out of the training process.

The findings are based on the experiences of 391 second-level student teachers enrolled in the Professional Master of Education (PME) programme, with many having to resort to family and friends to help them out financially.