Union predicts loss of more than 20 teachers

CLARE schools could lose “way more than 20 teachers” if the Government chooses to increase the pupil-teacher ratio, according to the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI).

TUI president and Shannon Comprehensive teacher, Bernie Ruane, has said she fears the Government may change the ratio from 19-1 to 20-1 in an effort to cut costs.
An increase in the pupil-teacher ratio would not mean an increase of one pupil per class at second-level but would mean a loss of 33 class periods, Ms Ruane believes, and this could result in less teachers.
“We have done the calculations and we know that in Clare 20 teachers will lose their jobs because of the number of teaching hours that would be lost. However, that could be more than 20 because very few young teachers get what you would call a job, they get hours. So they might get 10 hours or 15 or whatever and they have to be in a school for more than four years before they get a contract of indefinite duration or, in other words, are made permanent. With redeployment, less young teachers are being made permanent and, if the pupil-teacher ratio is introduced, way more than 20 teachers will lose their jobs here in Clare,” she told The Clare Champion.
Ms Ruane said TUI members are also concerned that fewer teachers means less choice for pupils.
“I am trying to dispel the myth that this would just mean an extra student in a class. It will have adverse effects on students and their choices of subjects and it could have a further negative effect by forcing schools to combine higher and ordinary level together.
“Neither would such a change help students with special needs and students for whom Irish is not their first language and these children have already been hit badly by cutbacks.
“There are schools in Clare,” Ms Ruane added, “that would have 25% of their students not born in Ireland so English would not be their mother tongue.”
“We are especially concerned about minority subjects like physics or other science subjects or higher-level maths. Schools may have to drop one of these. It could also mean classes might have to double up, so higher and ordinary-level maths might have to go in together. In smaller secondary schools it could even mean a fifth year and sixth year group would have to go in together,” Ms Ruane concluded.