Minister Foley considering suspension of career breaks for teachers to combat staff shortages

Minister for Education Norma Foley is considering suspension of career breaks for teachers in an effort to combat staff shortages.

The Minister yesterday briefed Ministers on a number of options being considered by her Department to plug gaps in the staffing crisis at an incorporeal Cabinet meeting, and will be attending an OECD meeting in Paris today.

Primary schools across Ireland have reported they are struggling to find substitute cover and second level schools face challenges in finding qualified teachers in key subjects.

Under existing rules, a teacher may take a career break for a year or more which can be extended, subject to an employer’s approval, for up to five years at any one time, or 10 years in the course of a teacher’s career.

In a memo to the Cabinet, Minister Foley said that her department will re-evaluate the teacher supply consultative forum and see where it can be enhanced, and if there needs to be greater revaluation to make it more targeted and action focused.

The memo also outlines a number of measures that are being considered.

One example includes the fast-tracking registration of teachers from abroad.

Another example is that the Department is maximising the availability of their Professional Master of Education (PME) students to undertake substitution work for the remaining school year.

CRITICISM

Social Democrats Education Spokesperson Gary Gannon criticised the proposal, and said in a statement: "The government appear to be panicking in advance of our motion, which has set out a number of positive steps the government could take to address this crisis, and are now grasping at straws.
 
"Career breaks are only sanctioned where positions can be filled and the reality is that many of those who apply for a career break do so because they have caring duties in the home."
 
He added: "It should also be noted that some TDs, who were teachers before their election to the Dáil, are currently on career breaks."
 
"It would make more sense for the government, in the first instance, to suspend the secondment of teachers to bodies like the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and the Inspectorate.

"This would free up teachers to return to classrooms immediately."
 
He also said that the government must also tackle the underlying housing and cost of living crises, which he said were 'exacerbating this crisis.'

The prospect of suspending career breaks for teachers has also been criticised by the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI).

The union said that such a measure would make the profession 'less attractive' and would actually worsen the teacher recruitment and teacher crisis.

It also pointed to a recent survey the group conducted, which found that almost two-thirds of primary schools in the Dublin area are short-staffed.