Second-level student teachers being 'exploited' over pay

The PME is an incredibly demanding and life-consuming course for two years.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) is to campaign for student second-level teachers to be paid for all the hours they work in schools during their second year of study.

A motion put forward by Dermot Brennan from the Carbery branch of the ASTI was carried with overwhelming support from the floor on Wednesday.

Professional Masters of Education (PME) students, a two-year programme of study which replaced the one-year H-Dip course in 2014, are being “totally exploited”, delegates heard.

Among the teachers proposing the motion was Conall Ó Dufaigh of the Bray Branch, who was part of the first group of students to complete the PME.

“It was at a cost of €6,500 per year,” he said. 

Teacher training leaves very little time for other types of work, apart from teaching in schools, he added.

“It is an incredibly demanding and life-consuming course for those two years.” 

This leaves teaching an “unattainable” career path for many but particularly for those from lower-income brackets, he added. 

Dropping out

The dropout rate is "huge", he said, adding his class had dropped to fewer than 100 students from 140 by the time he graduated. 

"That was very much a sign of things to come as we now know the difficulties that we have in recruiting for the profession."

A motion carried by the union on Tuesday will also see the ASTI campaign as a matter of urgency to have a one-year post-primary teaching course made available to graduates. 

Delegates heard the six-year route to qualifying as a second-level teacher for "many is a long and expensive road". 

There should be a one-year course available for those "who just want to become teachers quickly" in order to address teacher shortages. 

As previously reported by the Irish Examiner, researchers have warned the lack of financial support for PME students has contributed to a "very middle-class teaching profession" here. 

While the move to the two-year PME has been "very welcome", it has had a significant impact on people financially, they found.