Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn T.D., has today directed all schools to employ only appropriately qualified registered teachers.
"Only qualified personnel should be employed by schools", says Minister Quinn. "Appropriately qualified registered teachers seeking work must be given every opportunity to gain a teaching position. I want schools to give priority to them over unregistered people and retired teachers. The directions I have issued today will ensure that this happens and there will be transparency for both school management and the Department to verify this".
Figures released by the Department of Education last month showed that half of all 3,200 primary schools employed an unqualified teacher for up to a week during the first half of this school year. They also showed that 1,200 retired teachers were employed as substitutes during the same period.
Schools will be required to keep a list of appropriately qualified registered teachers who are available for substitute teaching at short notice. Teachers who are available for work will now be able to inform schools in their locality and be included on this list. Schools must then use this list or a service like TextaSub when they need a teacher at short notice.
"In these challenging times, it is vital that unemployed teachers get opportunities to gain experience and they should be favoured over those who have retired" said Minister Quinn. "It is unacceptable that unemployed or newly qualified teachers are being overlooked for substitution in favour of retired or unqualified teachers."
The Minister continued, "My Department is, for the first time, laying down tight restrictions on the extremely limited circumstances in which it may be necessary to engage an unregistered teacher, where a school would have to close or send pupils home otherwise. The aim is to protect the standards of education for students. The new restrictions strike a balance between the interests of students, giving newly qualified unemployed teachers employment opportunities and meeting the short-term staffing needs of individual schools".
If a school cannot find an unemployed teacher in time, they can then employ a retired registered teacher, but only for a short period of time. If a school, despite its best efforts, cannot find a registered teacher with qualifications appropriate to the sector, it can employ a registered teacher qualified in a different sector or subject.
Finally, if no registered teacher can be found, the school may, for a maximum of five days, employ an unregistered person, provided that it is satisfied that the person is competent and capable to act in place of a teacher. A school must keep looking for a qualified registered teacher and, if it finds one in the meantime, the unregistered person must be let go.
The new regulations are applicable to all appointments made from the 1st of September 2011. Principals will be obliged to keep a record and report to the board of management on instances when retired registered teachers and unregistered people are employed.