SECOND-LEVEL teachers in Ireland spend much less time in their schools than their counterparts in virtually every other OECD state, according to a confidential Department of Education memorandum.
The department says the “contracted working time required at school” for teachers in the Republic is “one of the lowest in the OECD at primary and secondary level”.
According to new figures, the working time required at second level for teachers in Ireland is 735 hours per year, about 40 per cent less than the OECD average of 1,214 hours per year.
Second-level teachers in Ireland also work one of the shortest school years in the OECD – 167 days per year, compared to the OECD average of 185 days per year.
In a briefing prepared for the McCarthy report, the department points out how the teacher contract in many countries forces teachers to remain in their school and complete set working hours.
The Republic is one of the few states where teachers are permitted to leave schools during the working day – if they are not in class. Children in second-level schools here receive 33 weeks of instruction, compared to the OECD average of 38 weeks.
Fifteen-year-olds in Ireland also receive much less compulsory instruction time than most of their OECD counterparts – 802 hours, compared to an OECD average of over 900 hours.
This places Ireland 17th of 21 states in the international OECD table.
The disparity between work practices in Ireland and other OECD countries is less marked at primary level, where the length of the school year (183 days) is close to the EU average (187 days).
The working time required of primary teachers in Ireland (1,036 hours) is also close to the OECD average (1,185).
The department points out that the actual teaching time of Irish teachers (ie the time spent in class) is relatively high by international standards.
The net teaching time at both primary (915 hours) and second level (735 hours) is actually above the OECD average.
But the department points out that in many countries, time is allocated for both teaching and non-teaching duties.
In the Republic, second-level teachers receive additional payments for duties such as the supervision and substitution scheme – and work on the Junior and Leaving Certificates.
The department’s memo – obtained under the Freedom of Information Act – is likely to be challenged by the teacher unions, who will point to the relatively strong performance of Irish 15-year-olds in OECD surveys, especially in literacy tests.
But the memo will raise fresh questions about the controversial teacher contract, the focus of criticism from the McCarthy report and from leading educationalists.
The McCarthy report said the €300 million cost of supervision and substitution and approved absences, like in-service training and official school business, “arise in large part from a set of restrictive working terms, conditions and practices for teachers”.
In July, Dr Don Thornhill, a former secretary of the Department of Education, said future contract arrangements for teachers should include a total statutory working time which would provide for activities outside the classroom, as recommended by the report.
Some leading education figures favour fundamental changes in the working conditions of teachers, including longer working hours, shorter holidays and the abolition of extra payments for some additional duties and for supervision and substitution cover.
Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe is reluctant to push through this agenda at a time when major confrontation is looming with the teacher unions over cuts.