Schools under pressure amid teacher shortages

ireland
Schools Under Pressure Amid Teacher Shortages
Over 600 primary-level and over 450 secondary-level vacancies are currently being advertised online. Photo: PA Images
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James Cox

Schools will be under pressure when the new term begins in a few weeks time because of a shortage of teachers.

There are currently 643 primary school jobs advertised on the Education Posts website, with 456 jobs on offer at secondary schools across the country.

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Principals claim the cost-of-living crisis and the chronic shortage of housing is partly to blame.

Labour's education spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin  said the Department of Education is not doing anything about it.

Mr Ó Ríordáin told Newstalk: "It appears the Department of Education are allowing this to continue. There are solutions out there.

"We've spoken in the Labour Party about a Dublin allowance that would encourage more teachers to be able to live in Dublin, but certainly this is a problem that the Department haven't grappled with at all. As a result, schools can't staff themselves and children are not going to be able to be educated by trained teachers come September."

He added: "A huge amount of this [school staffing issues] is about the housing crisis. A huge amount of this is about tackling the housing crisis effectively, and understanding that teachers should be able to live and work in Dublin... unfortunately that is not the case.

"We've spoken about a Dublin allowance that would mirror what happens in London, it's not the entire solution but it would certainly help."

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