The Minister for Education should be tackling the teacher recruitment crisis instead of focusing her efforts on a proposed smartphone ban for secondary schools, according to Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon.
The Dublin Central TD, who serves as the party spokesperson on education, said “as the new term begins, principals around the country are once again scrambling to fill teacher vacancies in their schools, with hundreds of posts advertised this month.”
“It is now almost two years since the Social Democrats put forward a range of measures aimed at dealing with teacher shortages. But attempts by Minister Foley to resolve the issue since then have been described as ‘minimalist cosmetic interventions’ by teachers and have failed to make a dent in the problem.”
He noted that the party proposed a reduction in the Professional Master of Education (PME) from two years to one to help address the significant costs of studying to be a teacher, which are in excess of €12,000
“To date, the Minister has flatly refused to consider this practical measure to ease the financial burden placed on student teachers and their families,” he said.
“The Minister should be encouraging new teachers to remain in Ireland after they qualify. That means giving them permanent, full-time jobs on their initial appointment instead of temporary, precarious employment.
“As schools reopen this week, the Minister’s focus has been on a notional ban on smartphones in second-level classrooms.”
He said that the idea “sounds good in principle” but only if it can be enforced.
“However, because schools are managed by their patrons, this is not something that the Minister or her department have any real control over,” he noted.
“But other urgent issues facing schools around the country – such as teacher vacancies and capitation grant shortfalls – are all within the Minister’s gift to resolve.”