Schools in Galway have been urged to sign up to a new scheme which will allow post-primary schools to share teachers in priority subjects.
The scheme will start from the beginning of the 2019/20 school year and is designed to alleviate some of the challenges schools have faced in recruiting teachers.
Minister Ciaran Cannon is urging schools in Galway to get involved – as he says this new approach to filling posts is a solution for principals who are seeking teachers and graduates who are looking for full-time employment and more options for work.
The Galway East Fine Gael TD said: “The teacher sharing initiative is one of a range of actions contained in the Action Plan for Teacher Supply, published in November 2018 and the development and implementation of the Action Plan is led by the Teacher Supply Steering Group in recognition of the significant recruitment challenges some schools have experienced.
“The aim of this initiative is to provide more options to ease recruitment pressures in some specific subject areas such as STEM, modern languages, Irish and home economics.”
The teacher sharing scheme will be reviewed after the first year of operation and it will allow two schools to work together to recruit a teacher for a job and employ them on more hours than if they were teaching in just one school.
This is designed to optimise the use of teaching time and will allow a teacher to teach as many hours as possible in a high-demand subject.
Minister Cannon added: “I urge schools in Galway to see this as an opportunity and begin the groundwork to make the most of this new scheme.”
