More than 160 teachers 'aren't qualified to teach' [Independent.ie]
- Published: 02 October 2010
A total of 162 unqualified teachers were employed in primary and second level schools last year, writes John Walshe.
New figures, revealed in an answer to a Dail question, show that 129 were employed at primary level and the remaining at second level.
In each case the school had to show that every reasonable effort had been made to recruit an appropriately qualified and registered teacher. Their contract stipulated that the job would end when a qualified teacher became available. The unqualified staff were paid less than the qualified rate, according to a written reply from Education Minister Mary Coughlan. She said it was her policy that only qualified personnel should be employed by schools.
"Unqualified personnel should not be appointed except in exceptional circumstances and then only when all avenues for recruiting qualified personnel have been exhausted and even then only for quite limited time periods. It is for this reason that Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act 2001 is to be amended," she told Sinn Fein's Caoimhghin O Caolain.
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