Teachers are leaving Ireland ‘in droves’

Hello and welcome to the Classroom Central email digest. In this edition, we report from this year’s teacher conferences. Teachers are leaving Ireland ‘in droves’ due to paperwork and rising costs; We asked delegates if a Dublin allowance would improve teacher supply, we report on children using AI; the ASTI and TUI announce survey of members over possible merger; pay for adult education tutors to be regularised; The Secret Teacher and more...

Teachers ‘leaving in droves’ due to mountain of paperwork and rising living costs, INTO conference hears: `We are underpaid and undervalued, crippled by mortgages, childcare and the cost of living,’ says one delegate as teachers’ roles have changed.

‘Teachers being harmed by bad inspections’ that ‘must stop’, TUI delegates told: Speaker notes statutory nature of process and accepts need for accountability but ‘more equitable system needed’.

Primary teachers urge removal of Catholic religious certificate needed to teach in most schools: Primary teachers have called for the removal of the Catholic religious certificate which is required to teach in most national schools.

Trinity students block Book of Kells exhibition in protest against planned cost increases

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‘Students are struggling in ways we haven’t seen before’

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Hot school meals: A close look at the ingredients list is not pretty. This is industrial food

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Most students in single-sex schools want mixed enrolment

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Teacher unions ASTI and TUI announce survey of members over possible merger: Move could pave way for single union with 40,000 teachers at second and third level.

‘We can’t afford to live in the capital’: Could a Dublin allowance improve teacher supply? We asked delegates at union conferences if they support calls for teachers in urban areas to be paid more to reflect higher living costs

‘Children are using AI, whether we like it or not’: Delegates at the teaching unions’ conferences discuss the rise of artificial intelligence in the classroom.

‘It hits you in the heart’: Teacher considered leaving school over ‘ridicule’ on TikTok: A second level teacher said he considered leaving his school after the “heartbreaking” experience of seeing his image being used in fake TikTok videos created by a student.

Pay and conditions for thousands of adult education tutors to be regularised: Pay and conditions for about 3,000 tutors working in the adult education sector is to be regularised following a long-running dispute in the sector, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) annual conference has heard.