More than 400 second-level teaching posts remain vacant with a week to go before schools reopen, latest figures show.
Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputies, said shortages are most acute in practical subjects – home economics, woodwork, metalwork – and maths, Irish and foreign languages.
“There are huge concerns in Dublin and commuter-belt schools, especially. From speaking to principals this week, many are changing their school timetables or looking at all available options to fill classes, such as the teacher extension scheme [which allows teachers work additional hours] or using unqualified teachers in certain subjects,” he said.
“For example, I know of schools employing people with culinary arts degrees – but no teaching qualifications – to make sure they have a home economics teacher in front of the students.”
Latest figures from the education recruitment website educationposts.ie show there were 416 unfilled post-primary teaching posts advertised.
The bulk of vacancies relate to fixed-term teaching positions – typically year-long contracts – while smaller numbers relate to cover for maternity or parental leave, as well as special education teaching posts.
Mr Crone said the coming week was a crucial period for schools to fill vacancies, with students due to return to school from next week onwards.
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The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), meanwhile, has warned that many students face fewer subject options due to teacher shortages at second level.
TUI president Liz Farrell said students are also being taught by a succession of teachers over the course of their studies due to ongoing recruitment and retention issues.
“Schools are struggling with a very real, severe teacher recruitment and retention crisis, so the time for sticking-plaster measures has long since passed,” said Ms Farrell said.
“It is now time for a completely new approach to teacher recruitment so that Ireland can compete for graduates, who are increasingly looking at international options. We have consistently raised these issues with the department over the years but to date they have failed to implement the effective measures required,” she said,
She called for a range of “targeted” measures in October’s budget including increasing teaching allocations to schools to allow more full-time, permanent jobs; restoring career structures cut during recession; halving the duration of the two-year qualification required to become a second-level teacher; and cutting red tape facing Irish teachers working overseas who want to move home.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) has also sought similar measures, including a shortening of the “extraordinarily long” teachers’ pay scale and doubling the number of middle-management posts in schools.
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Ms Farrell said a survey of teachers carried out by the union earlier this year showed that, of those recently appointed, less than a third of teachers (31 per cent) received a full-time contract, and just over one in 10 (13 per cent) were offered permanent positions.
Minister for Education Norma Foley said recently there were difficulties recruiting staff across all sectors of the economy and there were record numbers of teaching posts created in the education sector.
“We’ve never had more teachers and we’ve never had more staff within the education sector, with more than 4,000 posts made available at both primary and post-primary,” she said.
Nonetheless, she said she was aware schools were under pressure and pointed to a range of new initiatives aimed at easing these issues such as a shared-teacher scheme, the lifting of work restrictions for teachers on job shares, additional hours for qualified teachers and moves to make more student teachers available in the classroom.
Mr Crone, meanwhile, said the department had been proactive and had listened to suggestions from school principals, such as the teacher extension scheme.
