4 steps to address the teacher supply crisis in Irish schools

Analysis: Back to school means back to the same urgent issue of a shortage of teachers so what can be done to address this long-running crisis?

By Judith Harford and Brian Fleming, UCD

As schools re-open for the start of another academic year, principals are once again scrambling to try to ensure they have the requisite number of qualified teachers to teach a range of subjects. While the issue of a steady supply of teachers has been a feature of the evolving complexion of the Irish educational landscape for decades, the problem has become more pronounced in recent years.

Despite this, there has been a reluctance at a policy level to engage in meaningful dialogue and action on the issue, the consequences of which are grave. While a teacher supply crisis has impacted the primary school sector, it is more acute at post-primary level because of the requirement to have specific subject specialisms. Those subjects most impacted include Gaeilge, Metalwork/Engineering, various Science subjects, modern languages, Home Economics and maths. The situation is even more pronounced in Gaelcholáistí which require proficiency to teach a range of curricular subjects through the medium of Irish.

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What this means in practice is that schools are either being forced to drop particular subjects from their curriculum or employ out-of-field teachers. Out-of-field teaching is the practice of assigning teachers to positions for which they do not have suitable qualifications.

It hardly needs to be said here that the idea of students being taught by unqualified teachers is unacceptable for so many reasons. But this is often the last port of call for school principals who face ongoing issues with teacher supply and retention. While the practice appears to be on the increase and the Department of Education has gathered data on its prevalence, this has not been shared with the public, for obvious reasons.

What has caused this issue?

The main factors which have contributed to the teacher supply crisis have been well rehearsed over the past five years. The introduction of a differential salary scale for teachers in 2010 along with a reduction in promotional opportunities were initial triggers.

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Then the financial commitment involved in qualifying as a teacher became a serious disincentive, particularly in light of the fact that new recruits find it virtually impossible to secure full-time permanent positions. The housing crisis exacerbated this issue with many new recruits choosing more lucrative positions abroad or alternative employment in the economy at home.

How has the Department of Education responded?

The nucleus of any policy response to the teacher supply crisis is accurate, up-to-date data which informs a teacher supply and demand model. A key 2012 international report on Irish education, the Sahlberg Report called for an effective model of teacher supply and demand to be developed 'as a matter of urgency,' as well as expressing concern at 'the increasing reliance on out-of-field teachers at post primary level'.

Unfortunately the authorities in the Department of Education and the Teaching Council did not seem to share this sense urgency and it wasn’t until 2018 that a Teacher Supply Steering Group was established. Initially, the group consisted of senior officials of the Department of Education and representatives of various bodies, including the Teaching Council and the higher education institutions. Subsequently, representatives of the management bodies were co-opted. But organisations whose members were dealing with the teacher supply issue on a day-to-day basis, such as the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, the Irish Primary Principals Network and the three teacher unions. were not invited to participate.

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A range of initiatives emerged in the years that followed. These included upskilling programmes, allowing teachers to take classes over and above the usual maximum hours, facilitating those on career breaks or job sharing to take on substitute work, allowing those who qualified abroad to apply for registration and complete their induction in Ireland and the establishment of panels to address the issue of substitute teaching duties.

The most recent measure is the move to award newly qualified teachers with a €2,000 incentive payment (taxable) if they take up full-time posts. Although a number of the initiatives proposed proved of some value, the range of remedies collectively did little to address the core underlying issues.

Why the issue of teacher supply has not been tackled head on by the Department of Education remains unclear, but two possible reasons come to mind. Firstly, it's a simple case of inertia, an example of a big body moving very slowly, an issue which others in the policy community have in the past signalled.

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An alternative interpretation is that this may be a considered strategy on the part of the department, albeit an unarticulated one, rather than inaction or inertia. An official report written over 10 years ago estimated that the numbers enrolled in primary schools would peak in 2018 and gradually decline thereafter. At post-primary level, the peak was to be in 2024. In 2019, an internal department analysis leaked to the Irish Independent warned there would be a surplus of 38,000 teachers by 2036 despite current shortages in schools.

The over-supply forecast was based on a wide range of assumptions which were not subject to public discussion. What is clear is that attracting sufficient numbers to initial teacher education programmes is not currently a problem, although there remains a persistent and intractable issue in relation to under-represented groups.

What are some steps which should be considered?

In reality, the reason for the slow and ineffective response to the growing teacher shortage problem will never be made fully clear. What is certain is that schools continue to report widespread shortages and this is likely to persist for some years to come. The evidence from primary level is that the problem has persisted years after the demographic peak has been reached. At post-primary level, the additional complication caused by the subject specialism issue suggests that recruitment problems will persist for the rest of the current decade at least.

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To say that the teacher supply crisis requires urgent attention is an understatement. If continued, the fragmentary, piecemeal approach applied over the last decade will irrevocably damage the education system, those it is expected to serve and the profession of teaching. We would suggest four fundamental steps are necessary to begin to address the problem.

Salary

The Common Basic Salary Scale needs to be restored, in a shortened version, as an essential first step. This should take place in tandem with the introduction of a proper scheme of promotional opportunities.

Waiver of fees

Exchequer funding should be made available to higher education institutions to grant a waiver of fees for second year professional Master of Education students.

Encouraging quaified teachers to teach

Radical action is needed to further reduce the ‘leakage’ of qualified teachers choosing other careers, encourage those working in the system to remain and others already abroad to return.

Permanent wholetime roles

Boards of Management and Education and Training Boards should be empowered to fill posts in a permanent wholetime capacity where the needs of the students, curricular requirements and school enrolment justify such appointments.

Prof Judith Harford is Full Professor of Education at the School of Education at UCD. A Fulbright scholar, she has held visiting appointments at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge. She was awarded the Irish Research Council Researcher of the Year Impact Award in 2022. Dr Brian Fleming is a researcher in the School of Education at UCD and a retired school principal.

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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ