The Clare-based head of one of the country’s main teachers’ unions says the lack of incentives for teachers working abroad to return home is “ridiculous”.
Ahead of its annual conference in Wexford this evening, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland insists the Department of Education needs a “complete change in their thinking” to address the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector.
There are 36 unfilled secondary teaching posts in Clare today and a recent survey conducted by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, which is also having its conference today, found that only one third of its 700 members who were recently appointed received full-hours contract when they were first hired.
ASTI President and St. Joseph’s Kilkee Community College teacher Geraldine O’Brien claims returning home isn’t attractive for Irish teachers abroad because they currently have to returned to their original point on the 25-year pay-scale.
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