Irish Examiner view: Career break not making profession more inviting

Teacher shortages

According to a survey by the Irish Primary Principals Network, approximately one quarter of schools across the country have not been able to fill their staffing allocation this year.

The news that Education Minister Norma Foley is considering the suspension of career breaks for the teaching profession got exactly the reaction one might expect — including criticism from the opposition when it was confirmed that the minister herself is on a career break from a teaching post.

The main teaching unions were loud in their criticism, pointing to a general lack of consultation with the minister on the proposal, adding that any such decision would make the teaching profession less attractive.

The attractiveness of the profession is certainly a live question at present, given the reality of the crisis in teacher staffing. According to a survey by the Irish Primary Principals Network, approximately two thirds of Dublin primary schools, and one quarter of schools across the country, have not been able to fill their staffing allocation this year.

Little wonder that Ms Foley is also proposing that the Teaching Council is to be asked to consider the temporary reintroduction of facilitating UK-trained teachers to help with those staff shortages.

If the teacher shortage is so severe that Ireland is willing to import teachers from other jurisdictions, then surely all possibilities are on the table when trying to resolve that shortage? In that context, discussion of the feasibility of five-year career breaks can hardly be ruled out simply on the grounds that the minister for education is herself on a career break.

Ireland exported teachers to other countries for decades, so it can be difficult to accept that a career at the blackboard is clearly not as enticing to the current generation. Contrary to the logic of the unions’ argument mentioned above, the presence of the career break option does not appear to be making the profession any more attractive than it is already.