Lack of teachers sees system in 'crisis mode'
âWe are in crisis mode with the lack of teachers,â primary school principal Niamh Cronin said between sessions at the Irish Primary Principalsâ Networkâs annual conference in Killarney.
âWe are operating in a broken system."
The conference, taking place over three days in Killarney, heard that principals now face a weekly âgame of chessâ trying to staff their schools with too few teachers.
They are forced to take teachers from special needs groups to run mainstream classes, leaving the most vulnerable without much-needed additional input and the most gifted without extra guidance as time in mainstream class is then necessarily spent supporting weaker pupils.
âWe all know the importance of early years intervention,â Ms Cronin, principal at Scoil Mhuire Jnr, a Deis school in Dublin 15, said.
âLack of investment now is just storing up problems for the future.âÂ
Serious assaults are being caused by children with additional needs being in under-resourced mainstream schools because there are no special school places for them, she said.
And reports are taking so long to compile for children with disabilities or mental health complaints that they are waiting years for supports that are vital for their optimal education attainment immediately.
âThere was money for covid, there should be money for this,â Ms Cronin said.
âThis is a crisis too."
Out of 16 schools in her local area, 37 teaching positions are currently unfilled.
An immediate solution could be providing an accommodation allowance so that teachers can afford to live in high cost areas like Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Cork where shortages are most acute until the housing crisis recedes, she said.
Funding should also be provided to help people who want to study for post-graduate teaching qualifications, which can cost some âŹ17,000 annually, she said.
Providing a team of an occupational therapist, a speech and language therapist a clinical psychologist and an educational psychologist to share between a group of schools could also help children get necessary supports in school faster, she said.
Ms Croninâs school pays âŹ9,000 annually for psychological support for students but they have to find the money within existing budgets which is a struggle.
âWe have a lot of children with emotional and behavioural issues and needs, our board have taken the decision to pay a psychologist to come in.
âBut we can't afford our heating because the funding is so bad.
âMost of our bills are before Christmas, but we don't get our grants [from government] until after Christmas.
âThere's an awful lot wrong with how schools are funded and how schools are supported."
Louise Tobin, IPPN President said that a substitute teacher crisis has existed for some time, but the shortage has become so acute that now almost every school struggles to find qualified substitute teachers.
And schools are now also struggling to fill permanent and fixed-term, one year contracts, leaving some schools severely understaffed.
A recent IPPN survey found that 800 permanent or fixed-term posts were unfilled, with a further 1200 projected to be unfilled in the coming months.
PĂĄiric Clerkin, IPPN CEO, said that one way to tackle the crisis would be to hire student teachers, registered with the Teaching Council, to provide additional support when colleges and universities are closed.
âOur most vulnerable children are missing out at the moment because of the teacher shortage,â Mr Clerkin said.
âBut we can provide more intense support when the colleges close â thatâs around Christmas, Easter, but mostly towards the end of the school year - so the second half of May, all of June.
âWe can provide intense support for the children that have missed out using the student teachers who will be available at that stage.
âWe're calling it âbudgeted hoursâ because it will be of no extra cost to the exchequer.
âThose extra hours are part of the department's budget because they were for substitute cover that could not be provided due to a lack of substitute teachers at the time.
âThat money was unused because no teacher was available.
âAnd what we're asking is that that money be used when the student teachers become available.
âSo we can provide extra support for children and the most vulnerable children who have missed out as a result of the teacher shortages.âÂ
