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Government urged to act to make teaching profession more attractive
🇮🇪 Ireland /Culture & Society

Government urged to act to make teaching profession more attractive

From Irish Times · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The Irish government is urged to implement measures to make the teaching profession more attractive and address teacher retention issues.
  • The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) reports that increasing administrative duties are diverting teachers from their core role and contributing to burnout.
  • The union calls for the reinstatement of specific allowances and recognition of overseas service to improve recruitment and retention, particularly in schools serving specific needs.

The Irish government faces mounting pressure to revitalize the teaching profession and combat a growing crisis in teacher retention, according to the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI).

Teachers want to teach, yet it is abundantly clear that they are being distracted from teaching and learning by increasing administrative workload.

— Anthony QuinnTUI president, describing the impact of administrative duties on teachers.

The union asserts that keeping teachers within the education system has become as significant a challenge as initial recruitment. A key factor identified is the escalating administrative workload, which distracts educators from their primary task of teaching and learning. A recent survey of TUI members revealed that 92% believe bureaucratic duties have increased since they began their careers, and the same percentage agreed that "initiative overload" is leading to burnout among teachers and principals.

In a survey of our members earlier this year, 92 per cent agreed that bureaucratic workload/paperwork that distracts from teaching has increased since they commenced their career.

— Anthony QuinnHighlighting survey data on the increase in administrative tasks.

"Put simply, teachers have to spend too much time on non-teaching workload generated by constant new programme, policy and administrative demands," stated TUI president Anthony Quinn. He emphasized that this "culture of excessive paperwork" negatively impacts teacher retention and requires urgent attention. The TUI is calling on the Department of Education to introduce concrete measures to support and retain newly qualified teachers.

Separately, 92 per cent agreed that ‘initiative overload’ is leading to burnout among teachers and principal teachers.

— Anthony QuinnPresenting survey findings on teacher burnout.

Beyond administrative burdens, Quinn also raised concerns about diminished pension provisions. He advocated for the recognition of overseas teaching service for those returning to Ireland. Furthermore, the TUI is pushing for the reinstatement of several allowances that were abolished in 2012, including those for Special Educational Needs (SEN) qualification, teaching through Irish, and teaching on an island. The union argues that the removal of these allowances has exacerbated recruitment and retention difficulties, particularly for schools in specific sectors.

Put simply, teachers have to spend too much time on non-teaching workload generated by constant new programme, policy and administrative demands.

— Anthony QuinnSummarizing the core issue of excessive non-teaching workload.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Irish Times. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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