Primary school principals in Clare are adding their voices to calls for the recruitment process for teachers to begin early in the year.
It comes as schools across the country grapple with what’s been described as a severe shortage of substitutes to cover mainstream teachers.
Primary school principals are calling for an early recruitment campaign for the next school year, as part of efforts to hold on to as many newly-qualified graduates as possible.
They fear that “active recruitment” efforts by other countries are luring younger teachers abroad, who otherwise would be left waiting during the summer period for clarity on available positions.
As it stands, schools have to inform the Department of Education by May if they have a teacher surplus to requirement, which means there’s only 7 to 8 working weeks to complete a long and complicated recruitment process.
An Irish Primary Principals’ Network survey carried out in November found many primary schools were struggling to reach full staffing allocation, with almost 85% saying they’d to re-locate a special education teacher to cover a mainstream class.
87% reported ongoing challenges recruiting substitute teachers.
Principal of St Joseph’s National School in Miltown Malbay, Aidan Looney says this country will have to do better for newly-qualified teachers.
An Assistant Principal at an Ennis primary school believes a more streamlined system would make it less likely that newly qualified teachers would leave the country.
Colm Davoren of CBS Primary School is calling for the recruitment process to have begun by March.
Listen back to the full interview here:
