By Louise Doyle
A TOTAL of 140 teachers not registered with the Teaching Council worked as substitutes in Donegal schools in 2023 and 2024, we can reveal.
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by this newspaper show the majority of teachers not registered with the Teaching Council in Donegal worked in primary schools.
According to the FOI, during the 2023/2024 school year, 97 teachers not registered with the Teaching Council worked as substitutes in Donegal primary schools.
During the same timeframe, 43 teachers not registered with the Teaching Council worked as substitutes in Donegal post-primary schools.
An unqualified teacher is “a person who is not a registered teacher with the Teaching Council under any route may be employed under specific, limited circumstances, for up to five days”.
A Department of Education spokesperson said: “In the 2023/24 school year, there were 122,570 days of instruction in Donegal post-primary schools. Unregistered teachers provided 0.6 per cent of these days.
“In the 2023/24 school year, there were 257,115 days of instruction in Donegal primary schools. Unregistered teachers provided 0.1 per cent of these days.”
The spokesperson added that the recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is “a matter for individual school authorities, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012).
“In that regard, there are more than 3,700 individual employers (boards of management of primary schools and post-primary schools, as well as ETBs).
“It is a legal requirement for a teacher to register with the Teaching Council in order to receive a salary paid by the State. This ensures all teachers are qualified, capable and ethical professionals. Schools are permitted to employ substitute teachers, who are not fully qualified teachers, when all attempts at recruiting a qualified substitute teacher have bee unsuccessful.”
The spokesperson added that schools may only employ an unqualified substitute teacher for short periods up to a maximum of five days, as a last resort.
“In addition, where posts are unfilled for a period of time, or where a vacancy arises in a school due to a teacher taking leave, such vacancies may be filled by substitute teachers, on either a casual or non-casual contract basis.”
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