Subject choice for pupils: Online classes the answer?

The suggestion that plans to improve job security for teachers might  limit subject choices available to pupils means  that the proposals may need further consideration.   

It would after all put the cart before the horse if job security for teachers, no matter how valid a principle,  took  precedence over a reasonable degree of subject choice for second-level pupils.

The Department of Education  figures show  that more than one-in-three second-level teachers  do not have a permanent job, among primary teacher that ratio is one-in-ten. The reality of these daunting figures means that many young teachers struggle to plan what most people would regard as a normal life. Young teachers have suffered disproportionately, especially when compared to their senior colleagues, as public sector pay and employment practices were reshaped.

Though teachers should have the kind of conditions of employment that will attract talented and committed people to the profession, and that includes being made permanent, the  priority must remain the quality of our education system, a priority already challenged by some of Europe's largest class sizes.