Almost 80% of advertised teaching positions had no applications, survey finds

New entrants to the teaching profession are looking to have a job with full hours and access to the career progression.

Some 77% of schools advertised positions in the previous six months for which no teacher applied, while 64% of schools still have unfilled vacancies, according to a new survey.

The survey of 104 second-level schools was carried out in September and October by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI).

It found that 89% of schools experienced teacher recruitment difficulties in the previous six months, while 61% of schools experienced teacher retention difficulties in the same period.

Just 1% believe that enough is being done at Government level to tackle the crisis, while 90% believe more could be done to tackle barriers preventing Irish teachers living in other jurisdictions from returning home.

Almost a fifth of schools (18%) said they have been forced to drop subjects due to the recruitment and retention crisis while almost half (45%) said they have had to limit access to certain subjects.

Maths was the most difficult subject to employ teachers for, followed by construction studies/woodwork, Irish, biology and home economics.

TUI president David Waters said the Government still refuses to acknowledge the severity of the problem, “let alone act decisively on it despite being consistently warned about this crisis and its impact on the service to students".

Sticking-plaster measures

“To make matters more worrying, some of the key indicators have worsened since last year. Schools are displaying remarkable innovation in dealing with these challenges, but there is simply no more flexibility left to give. Sticking-plaster measures are seen as such by those in school communities, and principals feel abandoned by Government on this issue,” Mr Waters said.

Mr Waters said the accommodation crisis is exacerbating the problem, particularly in situations where teachers have contracts of less than full hours while the cost of pursuing the two-year PME (Masters) with no guarantee of a full-time job is making teaching an unaffordable profession for too many.

“At the very least, new entrants to the profession must have a job of full hours and access to the career progression options that existed before the last recession.

Posts of responsibility must be restored to pre-cutback levels. 

"These provide pastoral support to students, administrative support to overburdened principals and the critical career progression opportunities that greatly help to retain teachers in the profession,” he said.

Meanwhile, Principals’ and Deputy Principals’ Association President Adrian Power said the most damning finding is that just 1% of respondents believe enough is being done at Government level to tackle this crisis.

“The continuing inaction is utterly unacceptable. The worsening of this situation is also creating additional work for already overtasked principals in schools – a significant number report losing teachers subsequent to the setting of the year’s timetable, while many others report situations where teachers accept a position only to later reject it,” he said.