The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) today sought urgent clarification on teacher number figures on the Department of Education and Science website.
Information shows that there may be up to 3,586 teachers less in the system in second level in 2009/10 compared with 2008/09
http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/ta_sl_vec_allocations.doc?language=EN - Link to statistics on Dept of Education and Science website.
Speaking today, TUI General Secretary Peter MacMenamin said:
“The latest statistics show that there could be up to 3,500 less teachers in the system next year due to the various cutbacks and revised allocations implemented by the Department of Education and Science.
The Minister for Education and Science stated on several occasions last year that that the number of teaching posts lost at second level would be in the region of 200. Urgent clarification from the Department is now essential.
TUI has sought this information at regular intervals since February only to be met with a stony silence by the Department. Now the information has been buried on their website in what can only be described as an utterly cynical exercise.
At the most basic level, these cutbacks will be absolutely devastating to the prospects of a generation of young people as they attempt to navigate a course through our education system.
Subject choice will be severely affected in many schools, and the one certainty is that the most vulnerable children educationally and socially will suffer as a result. It will become increasingly difficult to support those students on the margins and as a result student drop-out will spiral.
To make matters worse, there will be over 3,200 extra students in the second level system as a result of a rise in numbers and this will exacerbate the damaging effects of this swingeing reduction in teacher numbers.
A well developed and appropriately resourced education system is key to any hope of economic revival for the nation. This massive reduction in teaching posts will set us back decades and is completely at odds with the stated intention to work towards a knowledge based economy. “