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INTO Says Employ Qualified Teachers
The CEC of the INTO is concerned at ongoing reports of high levels of unemployment amongst recent primary teaching graduates. The CEC previously considered this issue at its August meeting and made a number of recommendations to schools.
The CEC will be organising a series of regional meetings for newly qualified graduates after the mid-term break. In the meantime the INTO recommends that:
- wherever possible, part-time special education hours granted to schools should be combined to create full-time posts;
- where it is not possible to cluster part-time hours for the creation of a full-time post it is imperative that fully qualified primary teachers are employed to cover those hours;
- qualified teachers should be employed to cover all approved absences which have substitute cover;
- where possible, schools with teaching principals should be encouraged to cluster to create the equivalent of a full-time temporary post to cover for the administrative release days for teaching principals.
The CEC is adamant that, given the experience of other periods of teacher unemployment, it is vital to ensure our young teachers are given opportunities to gain incremental and pension credit, and also where possible to be able to complete their probation.
Date: Tuesday, 12 October 10