Teaching remains an attractive job, as the number of young people entering the profession each year shows. The problem is that it is currently more attractive in Dubai than in Dublin.by organisations representing primary teachers identifies a shortfall of 809 permanent, fixed-term and long-term substitute teachers in the 1,094 schools that responded. An additional 1,202 long-term vacancies are predicted within the next three months.
Two reasons for the shortage have been singled out by teacher organisations. One is the shortage of affordable accommodation in urban areas and the other is the allure of better paid teaching work abroad. . This compares with a starting salary here of around €41,000 a year. It is quite a differential and that is before taking into account other factors such as tax and accommodation costs.Spotify’s zero-royalty plan tells musicians their work is worthlessIn many ways the shortage of national school teachers is just another manifestation of the cost-of-living increases and housing shortages that confront all workers and appear intractable for the Government.
They want to see something done in the next public service pay agreement, which is currently being negotiated. The question that arises is whether some sort of special measures that have been mooted, such as Dublin allowances for teachers, are justified. It can be argued that our education system and its pipeline of well-qualified graduates and school leavers is one of our few competitive economic advantages. We undermine it at our peril.