Schools turning to unqualified staff amid struggle to recruit teachers

Michael Bolton

Primary school leaders say a crisis in teacher supply is forcing schools to rely on individuals without teaching qualifications to plug gaps in the classroom.

A recent survey has shown there is a current staffing shortage of 951 teachers.

The survey, carried out by the Irish Primary Principals’ Network and the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association, show 29 per cent of respondents indicated they were unable to fill all teaching positions allocated for the 2024/2025 school year.

195 permanent posts and 756 long-term temporary or substitute posts are unfilled in these schools.

The crisis is particularly acute in Dublin, Wicklow, and Kildare, where more than 50 per cent of schools reported unfilled teaching posts.

In Dublin, there is 134 permanent posts vacant early this year.

Special schools were identified as having the highest proportion of vacancies, with 52 per cent of respondents reporting unfilled posts.

Schools have had to rely on personnel not registered with the Teaching Council to cover short-term teacher absences. So far this year, 745 people were employed, with 284 of these in Dublin alone.

1,103 registered teachers who are not qualified for the sector were working in primary and special schools.

39 per cent of schools reported they were forced to subdivide classes into other classrooms when a substitute teacher could not be found during the first five weeks of the school year.

According to the INTO, every county, apart from Clare, has seen an increase in these expected vacancies in comparison to this time last year.

A further 400 more fixed-term vacancies are also expected between now and January.