The findings of a new survey of over 700 Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) members highlight a range of concerns around the teacher supply crisis, bureaucratic overload and poor facilities in schools. The survey shows significant, continuing involvement of teachers in voluntary extracurricular activities that benefit students.
A key finding shows that just 35% of respondents who entered the profession in recent years received a contract of full hours upon initial appointment.
To tackle the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, TUI is calling for full-time jobs upon initial appointment, a reinstatement of allowances formerly paid to teachers, more career opportunities and full recognition of teaching service overseas for those wishing to return to the Irish education system.
The Union’s Annual Congress will be attended by 500 delegates and guests in the INEC in Killarney, Co Kerry this week. The online survey of 736 members was carried out in March. Full findings are set out at the end of this statement.
Comments below from TUI President David Waters:
Teacher recruitment
‘We know from international colleagues that Ireland is far from unique in having a teacher recruitment and retention crisis. This means that other education systems will increasingly seek out our highly qualified graduates unless they are incentivised to stay here. Failure to do so will undoubtedly see the crisis worsen greatly. We’ve seen enough ‘sticking plaster’ measures from the Department – real action is now a necessity to keep teachers in front of classrooms.’
‘At a time when schools are struggling to hire teachers, only 35% of those recently appointed received a contract of full hours upon initial appointment, with just 12% offered a permanent position on appointment. Schools must be provided with enhanced allocations so that they can provide secure jobs on full hours if graduates are to choose Ireland over other jurisdictions. Similarly, we need to recognise overseas teaching experience for incremental purposes here if we are to attract Irish teachers back to these shores.’
Teacher retention
‘Of those respondents who have been employed in the profession for a period of less than ten years, over half (51%) said that they would consider leaving Ireland to teach in another country. From a list, they cited disillusionment with their teaching job in Ireland, the opportunity to save money and issues related to the accommodation crisis as being the top three factors.’
‘We believe that enhancing career opportunities and reinstating allowances that were cut during the last recession would have a significant impact in tackling teacher shortages.’
‘Posts of responsibility, which ensure the effective running of schools while providing pastoral support for students, have not been fully restored since being cut in the last recession. 71% of respondents do not believe that there are enough of these posts in their schools, while 93% believe that the challenges faced by young people have increased in the last five years, which shows the necessity of enhancing this pastoral support system for students. Only 15% disagreed that they would be more likely to remain in the profession if more Assistant Principal posts became available.’
Workload/bureaucracy
‘Ever-increasing workload, particularly that of a bureaucratic nature, continues to be a demoralising factor, and one that sees many leave the profession. 92% agreed that bureaucratic duties regularly deflect from the core role of teaching, while 93% agreed that such duties have increased since they commenced their career. Teachers want to teach, not tick boxes or attend meetings that benefit neither them nor their students.’
AI – training and guidelines required
‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) is clearly an area that is already having a significant effect on the education system. 89% believe that the Department of Education/DFHERIS needs to provide continuing professional development (CPD) in relation to AI, while 83% want to see more guidelines and information from the Departments on the usage of AI in education.’
Resourcing for the education system
‘Teachers are in favour of positive Senior Cycle reform that benefits the education system, but there are serious concerns about resourcing. Half of respondents do not believe that their school has the facilities for student work on additional assessment components as part of Leaving Certificate assessment within their subject area, while 66% do not believe that their school has the required resources to provide new subjects such as Drama, Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development which are due to be introduced from 2025/26.’
‘In international terms, our investment level is shamefully low, particularly at second level where our spend as a percentage of GDP is half the OECD average. If we are serious about aspiring to having a world class education system, our policymakers must match the commitment of students and educators by appropriately funding the sector.’
Extracurricular involvement
‘As communities all over the country will be aware, the voluntary extracurricular work of teachers in areas such as sports, music, drama etc is of significant value to young people. Over half of respondents take part in such work, with almost 45% spending between two and four hours a week on these activities.’
Full survey findings:
TUI pre-Congress 2024 online survey of members in Post-Primary and Further Education and Training sectors
736 responses – 6th March to 22nd March 2024
.
What sector do you mainly work in?
- 71% work in Post-Primary
- 29% work in Further Education and Training
Recruitment and Retention
At the moment, do you believe you will still be in the profession in ten years’ time?
42% said they believed they’d still be in the profession in ten years’ time. 27% said they didn’t believe they’d be in the profession in ten years’ time. 31% said they didn’t know or were due to retire within that timeframe.
Respondents were asked to answer the following question only if they have been employed in the profession for a period of less than ten years:
Would you consider leaving Ireland to teach in another country for a period of time?
51% said that they would consider leaving Ireland to teach in another country. 41% said that they wouldn’t. 8% didn’t know.
Of those who answered yes to the previous question, the top three motivations chosen from a list were:
- Disillusionment with teaching job in Ireland
- To save money
- Unavailability/unaffordability of accommodation in Ireland
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘Teacher recruitment and retention difficulties in my school/centre have had a negative effect on the service to students.’
81% strongly agreed or agreed with this statement. 7% disagreed or strongly disagreed. The remainder neither agreed nor disagreed.
(54% strongly agreed; 27% agreed; 5% disagreed; 2% strongly disagreed)
School/centre facilities
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘My school/centre has facilities that are suited to modern teaching and learning methodologies.’
50% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. 38% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
(35% agreed; 15% strongly agreed; 22% disagreed; 16% strongly disagreed)
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘My school/centre has modern facilities that fully facilitate student work on additional assessment components (AACs) as part of Senior Cycle Assessment within my subject area(s).’
50% disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement. 23% agreed or strongly agreed.
(26% disagreed; 24% strongly disagreed; 18% agreed; 5% strongly agreed).
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘My school has the required facilities and resources suitable for providing revised specifications for subjects (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Arabic, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Business) from 2025/26.’
48% disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement. 16% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement.
(24% disagreed; 24% strongly disagreed; 11% agreed; 5% strongly agreed)
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘My school has the required facilities and resources suitable for providing new subjects (Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development) from 2025/26.’
66% disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement. 10% agreed or strongly agreed.
(31% disagreed; 35% strongly disagreed; 7% agreed; 3% strongly agreed)
Artificial Intelligence
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘The Department of Education/DFHERIS need to provide continuing professional development (CPD) to teachers in relation to Artificial Intelligence.’
89% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement.
(25% agreed; 64% strongly agreed)
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘The Department of Education needs to provide more information/guidelines on the usage of Artificial Intelligence in education.’
83% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement.
(24% agreed; 69% strongly agreed)
Posts of Responsibility
Do you believe there are enough Assistant Principal I and Assistant Principal II posts in your school to match the educational and pastoral needs of the school community?
71% do not believe there are enough API and APII posts in their school. 17% believe there are enough.
Do you think Assistant Principal posts are serving our students adequately or are they primarily concerned with growing administration and bureaucratic duties?
73% believe AP posts are primarily concerned with administration duties rather than serving students adequately. 12% believe they are serving students adequately.
Do you believe the range of challenges that young people face has increased in the last five years?
91% believe that the range of challenges that young people face has increased in the last five years.
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘If there were more Assistant Principal positions available in my school, I would be more likely to remain in the profession because of the potential for further career progression.’
54% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. 15% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
(23% agreed; 31% strongly agreed; 10% disagreed; 5% strongly disagreed)
Bureaucratic workload and Extracurricular activities
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘Bureaucratic duties/paperwork regularly deflect from my core role of teaching.’
92% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement.
(26% agreed; 66% strongly agreed)
Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: ‘Bureaucratic duties that deflect from teaching have increased since I commenced my career.’
93% agreed or strongly agreed with this statement.
(15% agreed; 78% strongly agreed)
Are you involved in extracurricular activities in your school – outside of timetabled hours – such as sports, drama, music debating etc?
51% are involved in such activities; 49% are not.
Please only answer this question if you answered ‘Yes’ to the previous question. If so, how many hours on average did you spend engaged in such activities per week?
Of those involved in extracurricular activities, 41% spend less than two hours a week, 45% spend between two and four hours a week and the remaining 14% spend more than four hours a week.
Housing/Accommodation issues
If you are renting accommodation and had to vacate it, how difficult would it be to secure new accommodation in the locality?
99.5% of those renting said it would be very difficult or somewhat difficult to secure new accommodation in their locality.
(85% said it would be very difficult; 14.5% said it would be somewhat difficult)
Are you aware of colleagues who have ceased employment at your school/centre due to the accommodation crisis?
35% were aware of colleagues who have ceased employment at their school due to the accommodation crisis
Do you believe that the housing/accommodation crisis has had an adverse effect on the lives of any students in your school or centre?
78% believe that the accommodation crisis has had an adverse effect on the lives of students in their area.
Section for those who commenced employment on or after 1st January 2011
Were you offered a permanent position upon initial appointment?
12% were offered a permanent position upon initial appointment. 88% were not.
Did you receive a contract of full hours upon initial appointment?
35% received a contract of full hours upon initial appointment. 65% did not.
If you answered ‘No’ to the previous question, how many years did it take you to receive a contract of full hours?
It took 20% of respondents three years to receive a contract of full hours, and longer than three years for 34%. 25% received a contract within the first two years.