By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent A Government plan to help alleviate shortages of teachers facing primary and second-level schools has been described by a teachers’ union as a “sticking plaster”. Dedicated teacher recruitment websites, attracting emigrant teachers home, and a campaign to increase the profile of the teaching profession are among the measures announced by Education Minister Joe McHugh. They feature in a 21-point action plan that follows the announcement in March of extra places over two years on third-level courses leading to second-level teaching qualifications, focused on subjects in which schools are struggling to find staff. The plan was formulated by a Department of Education-led working group to combat severe teacher shortages. Mr McHugh said innovative ways must be found to resolve the teacher supply issue. “There are many Irish teachers all over the world who would happily return home and we need to explore better engagement with the diaspora and find convenient ways for them, through the use of digital technology, to avail of online recruitment processes,” he said. According to the action plan, however, options to recruit teachers employed in other countries will not be explored until early next year. It is one of a number of actions that is to be undertaken by the department and the Teaching Council, which is also expected to help set up an online portal for teacher recruitment from next summer. However, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) said the plan does not address the root causes of the current crisis in… [Read full story]
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