Students will suffer as teachers are forced out of Dublin due to a lack of housing.
That's according to Deputy General Secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland Diarmaid de Paor, whose concerns come as many teachers are being forced out of the capital, with cost of living concerns the main cause. He says schools may be forced to drop subjects or drop unqualified teachers into classes to fill in the gaps.
He told Dublin Live: "There’s a danger that some schools might have to drop some subjects, optional subjects. The other problem is that if a school can’t get a qualified Irish teacher for example, they will be using teachers that aren’t qualified in Irish.
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“Schools will make sure that the qualified teachers for these subjects are teaching Junior and Leaving Cert classes, but it’s a problem. A lot of teachers have always moved out of Dublin in general, whether people move to their home places or their partners have work elsewhere - but now it’s being impacted by the cost of living, particularly the cost of accommodation.
“This is already on top of a huge shortage of teachers, particularly in certain subjects. Some schools in Dublin are finding it very difficult to recruit teachers. Subjects particularly hit would be Irish, Maths, Science, Modern Languages, Home Economics and even English teachers now.”
Diarmuid believes that if teachers are deciding between Dublin or somewhere down the country, they’ll leave Dublin.
“If they want to set up a home, if they want to live, they have to move”, he continued. "A lot of teachers in Dublin are commuting long distances anyway. If they get offered a job in the midlands, they’ll take them.
“We actually have teachers resigning permanent jobs in the capital to take jobs then taking the bet or the gamble of taking a part-time or temporary job down the country.”
The ASTI are also already thinking about the next wave of Covid and how it could impact students and teachers.
Diarmuid added: “Schools are finding it very difficult to get substitute teachers. Teachers over the last year with Covid, there has been a lot of absences from schools.
“There’s another wave predicted for the winter and even if it’s not serious in terms of hospitalisations, it could keep teachers at home and it could be difficult for schools to find subs. They aren’t there.
"If you’re hanging around for substitute hours, you’re not likely to be able to do that in Dublin unless you’re living at home, otherwise you won’t be able to afford to live in Dublin. It’s a crisis and it needs to be addressed.”
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