More than 600 teaching posts remain vacant ahead of new school term

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland said it was consistent that hundreds of teaching posts remain unfilled in mid-August each year, despite schools having worked 'relentlessly' to try and put a full complement of teaching staff in place.

More than 600 teaching posts remain vacant ahead of the new school term, as unions warn the recruitment and retention crisis in schools continues unabated due to ineffective Government action.

A week before many second-level schools are due to reopen around the country, 284 unfilled second-level teaching posts in subjects like English, biology, and maths are still being advertised.

At primary level, 140 mainstream classroom teacher posts remain advertised on educationposts.ie, along with a further 180 roles for special education teachers, special class teachers, supply teachers and support teachers.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said it was consistent that hundreds of teaching posts remain unfilled in mid-August each year, despite schools having worked “relentlessly” to try and put a full complement of teaching staff in place.

It comes as the second-level teachers’ union launched the findings of a survey of school leaders conducted earlier this year. Almost 70% of those taking part reported they had unfilled vacancies due to recruitment difficulties.

Published this week, it found:

• Almost 80% of second-level schools surveyed had no applications for an advertised post or posts during the 2024/25 school year;
• 90% of schools said there were no substitute teachers available to cover for absent teachers;
• 73% said they had to employ non-qualified/ casual teachers to manage teacher supply issues.

A further 42% schools said they removed a subject, or subject, from the curriculum.

The changes necessary to fundamentally address the problem and ensure teaching is a sustainable career have not been acted upon, according to ASTI general secretary Kieran Christie.

“It seems the Department of Education and Youth is waiting for demographic shifts to lessen the problem. This is not an acceptable way to treat the children and young people who are returning to school this month.”

“Fundamental changes to entice teachers to return from other countries need to be introduced,” he added.

“Shortening the excessively long teachers’ pay scale and doubling the number of middle management posts in schools would be an enormous help in properly addressing the teacher supply crisis.”

The training period for new teachers needs to be reduced from two-years to one and the exorbitant cost of undertaking this training must be tackled.

Earlier this week, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) also accused the Department of Education of being “intent on trying to ‘ride out’” issues around teacher recruitment.

The union has called for the duration of the current professional master of education, required to become a second-level teacher, to be halved, from two to one years.