28th November 2019
The third national consultative forum held under the Teacher Supply Action plan met today with Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh in attendance. A steering group was established in response to the significant challenges many schools had encountered in recruiting teachers.
Notably, the representative body for primary teachers in Ireland, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, was excluded from participating in the steering group.
Following today’s stakeholder forum, INTO General Secretary John Boyle said:
If the Minister is genuinely interested in resolving the current recruitment and retention crisis facing primary schools nationwide, he need only look at the issues the INTO is campaigning on. End the ongoing blight of pay inequality. Restore promoted posts. Extend the supply panel nationwide. Tackle the ever-increasing workload burdens facing our school leaders and teachers, provide time and space in our classrooms by reducing our shamefully high class sizes. These are the solutions that will enable schools to thrive, recruit, and retain the very best and ensure that every child is assured access to a fully qualified teacher every day.
It is within the Minister’s gift to ensure that those who are dealing with the crisis daily are represented on the steering group before it’s too late.