Comments from TUI General Secretary Michael Gillespie:
Data from the newly published PISA 2018 Results: Effective Policies, Successful Schools makes clear the significant negative effects for students of the continuing failure to appropriately resource Irish schools.
Specifically, the report highlights that 44.8% of students are enrolled in Irish schools whose principal reported that learning is hindered by a lack of teaching staff, a figure way above the OECD average of 27.1%.
This is hardly surprising given the continuing failure to invest appropriately in Irish education.
There has been a recruitment and retention crisis in second level schools for a number of years now, mainly due to the scourge of the two-tier pay system which sees those appointed after 1st January 2011 earn less than their colleagues. A survey carried out among principals last month showed that 98% of schools have experienced difficulties employing substitute teachers over the past twelve months. 81% of these believe that pay discrimination is a significant factor in this.
In last month’s OECD Education At A Glance report, Ireland’s spend at second level (1.1%) was the lowest of the 36 countries for which figures are provided, trailing unacceptably far behind the OECD and European averages (both 1.9%).
Irish teachers and lecturers have demonstrated remarkable flexibility throughout the national health emergency, providing a first-class education service to learners of all abilities despite the public education system being chronically under-resourced by international standards. Now more than ever, with a range of current and future challenges, an adequately-funded education system must be seen as central to the country’s future.