The Teachers' Union of Ireland says new entrants into the profession should be offered full-time, permanent jobs.
A new survey by the Principal and Deputy Principals' Association of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, found 91% of schools experienced recruitment difficulties in the previous six months.
61% of schools also said they faced issues holding on to existing teaching staff in recent months.
71% of schools, who advertised a position in the previous six months, say they had received no applications and 61% sill have teaching vacancies.
TUI President, Liz Farrell, says the rising cost of living is also affecting the recruitment of teachers in certain parts of the country, particularly where teachers are offered contracts of less than full hours.
"In too many cases, teachers are advising that they cannot secure accommodation, never mind sustain themselves if they do. They simply cannot afford to live in certain areas. Teachers should be awarded contracts of full hours upon initial appointment".
The union is warning that ultimately teacher recruitment and retention problems can have a negative impact on students, "who can miss out on subject choices or be taught by ‘out-of-field’ teachers".
The union is also calling for schools to be given an increased allocation of teaching hours to meet the needs of a growing demographic.
'Teachers should be awarded contracts of full hours upon appointment. Key to retention in the profession is restoration of middle management structures to pre-cutback levels, particularly posts of responsibility, which provide promotional opportunities within profession.'
— Teachers' Union Ire. (@TUIunion) October 26, 2022
Adrian Power, President of the Principals and Deputy Principals’ Association President, says ‘The survey findings show that 77% of respondents reported a situation where a teacher accepted a position only to later reject it, often for a position with a higher number of contracted hours elsewhere".
"While we completely understand why teachers are forced to do this, it is extremely frustrating and time-consuming for principals". The association says it could be easily solved if schools were facilitated with enhanced allocations allowing them to offer new teachers full hours, rather than fragments of jobs.
