Proposals to alleviate teacher supply crisis

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound, on 07/12/2022. Proposals to alleviate teacher supply crisis

Tags: Teachers

The Government was yesterday informed by Education Minister Norma Foley of a number of measures she is proposing to action to deal with the teacher supply crisis. The actions planned or under serious consideration include the following:

Career breaks and job shares for teachers may be restricted but the Department of Education will consult with unions before taking any final decisions.

Days off that teachers can claim in return for doing a summer course are being reviewed.

The Teaching Council will be requested to carry out a review of the Teaching Council registration process for those qualified outside the State.

Changes are also expected to be made to the existing upskilling programmes in priority subject areas

On a temporary basis for the 2022/23 school year, job sharing teachers, who often operate on a week on, week off basis, may be employed to work in a substitute capacity, during the period they are rostered off duty

A waiver of pension abatement for retired teachers returning to teach for up to 50 days in each of the three calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023

Also under consideration is incentivising and supporting schools employing a teacher on less than full hours to use the teacher sharing scheme to fill vacancies,

The teacher supply consultative forum would be re-evaluated, to see where it could be enhanced.

A Social Democrats Private Members’ Motion is to go before the Dáil today, calling for measures to address the serious shortage of teachers in primary and second-level schools.
The Minister will be out of the country for today's regular Cabinet meeting, because she is attending the OECD Council Meeting of Education Ministers in Paris, a once-in-a-decade event