Latest news with #MichaelGillespie
Irish Times
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Moves besides permanent contracts essential to addressing staff shortages, TUI delegates told
The move by Government to cut the amount of time new teachers must work before securing permanent contracts is welcome, but other measures are required to address the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis in secondary education, delegates at the Teachers Union of Ireland conference in Wexford were told on Tuesday. General secretary Michael Gillespie said widespread staff shortages were being fuelled by the difficulties being experienced attracting young teachers in the face of competition from overseas but also by resignations and early retirements, many of which, he said, are being prompted by the stress of the work. 'This is a crisis of the Government's own making,' Mr Gillespie told delegates. 'It is the inevitable result of repeated decisions to force the education system to do more with fewer resources.' He said schools need to be better resourced in order to attract new teachers and offer them clear career pathways, while specific measures are required, he said, to appeal to the large numbers of young teachers working in places such as Dubai and Australia, 'starting with recognition of teaching service overseas'. READ MORE 'We welcome the recent decision to allow teachers to gain permanent contracts one year earlier,' he said, describing it as 'a positive move'. However, he added, 'it is not enough'. The move on permanent contracts was something the union had been pushing for, although it wants permanent jobs offered from day one, he added. The Government now needs to act on other suggestions, including a reduction in the Professional Master of Education course from two years to one, and the restoration of abolished allowances for teachers working in special education, through Irish or on the islands, Mr Gillespie said. While recruitment needs to be a greater priority, he insisted, there is also a growing problem with retention, as a growing number of teachers resign or take early retirement due to the growing levels of work-related stress. Excessive workload and work intensification are 'breaking' the teaching profession, he said. [ Teachers to consider industrial action over proposed Leaving Cert reforms Opens in new window ] 'Across every sector of education, our members repeatedly raise the alarm: there is an ever-increasing workload and never enough time,' he said. The 'spiral is unsustainable. It is becoming a serious health and wellbeing crisis. Burnout is real and impacting our profession.' Research carried out by DCU found 85 per cent of teachers experienced high levels of work-related burnout, while half that many, 42 per cent, said they are likely to leave the profession early because of the issue. He said teachers were struggling with the same wider social issues as those working in every other sector of the economy, but were also having to cope with 'change overload' caused by emerging technologies, curriculum overload and endless new initiatives. 'And we are doing all this with the largest class sizes in Europe.' Addressing the conference later on Tuesday, Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless said Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) and the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) had not been forgotten about by Government despite the two institutes not yet becoming part of a larger third-level establishment. The Department of Further and Higher Education, he said, 'will continue to support the provision of significant financial and expert guidance to DkIT and IADT as they pursue their strategic plans in the coming years. 'However, it is not the role of any Minister to direct an institution to follow a particular path.'
Irish Independent
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
‘They are not abandoning Ireland – Ireland is abandoning them' – calls for secondary teachers to have years abroad recognised
Michael Gillespie, who was addressing the opening day of the union's annual congress held at White's of Wexford, said that other countries are offering 'better pay, conditions - and even better weather', while teachers here 'are facing job insecurity, excessive workload and low pay'. 'They [teachers working abroad] are not abandoning Ireland - Ireland is abandoning them,' he said. One of the big talking points at this year's conference will be the teacher recruitment and retention crisis. Schools are experiencing ever-worsening difficulties filling vacancies, a problem exacerbated by the scarcity of affordable accommodation. One in five schools has dropped subjects, while just three per cent of school leaders believe the Government is doing enough to tackle the problem. The TUI said it must be made easier for Irish teachers to return home from abroad. Currently, secondary school teachers who work in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, China and Australia do not have their years recognised on the public sector pay scale when they come back to Ireland. However, primary school teachers do. A motion will be tabled which calls for parity on the matter. Mr Gillespie said an unsustainable workload is also driving teachers from the profession. 'Excessive workload and work intensification are breaking our profession,' he said. 'Across every sector of education, our members repeatedly raise the alarm: there is an ever-increasing workload and never enough time. When time disappears, work intensification takes its place—this spiral is unsustainable. And it is not just about paperwork. It is becoming a serious health and well-being crisis. Let us call it what it is: burnout and the burnout is real and impacting our profession.' Mr Gillespie said teachers are being asked to carry out work that goes 'far beyond' contracted class contact time. 'We are accumulating a workload that is unfair, excessive, and quite frankly, unmanageable,' he said. A recent study by DCU found that 42pc of teachers are likely to leave the profession due to 'crippling burnout'. Eighty-six per cent reported moderate to high levels of personal burnout. The TUI general secretary said more needs to be done to attract people back to the profession. Mr Gillespie said he welcomed the recent decision to allow teachers to gain permanent contracts one year earlier. 'Make no mistake delegates, this was a TUI suggestion. It is one of a number of suggestions we brought to the Government and while a positive move - it is not enough,' he told delegates. TUI represents 20,500 teachers and lecturers in second level schools, further education and training colleges and centres, and Technological Universities/Institutes of Technology. A recent survey by the union of 1,000 education professionals showed 80pc of veteran teachers believe they could not afford to enter the profession today because of income, contract, cost of living and workload issues.
Irish Examiner
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
'Deliberate underfunding' has hurt Ireland's education system, teachers' congress told
Ireland's education systems have suffered from 'chronic and deliberate underfunding', a teachers' union has been told. In his opening address at the TUI annual congress in Wexford, the union's general secretary Michael Gillespie told members that the underfunding in question amounts to 'a legacy of austerity prolonged by political indifference'. 'Our economic circumstances are no longer an excuse for paltry spending and pitiful investment. There is no excuse for the continued neglect of our education system,' Mr Gillespie said. 'What is needed now is decisive, transformative investment in public education, investment that recognises the value of our work and the needs of our students.' On the most recent public pay agreement which the teaching unions have endorsed, the general secretary said productivity-based increases to teacher salaries – a local bargaining element of the agreement which could lead to pay hikes of up to 3% - should not have the unintended consequences of leading to additional workloads, intensification of work, or 'unrealistic efficiency demands'. Mr Gillespie said that work intensification for teachers 'is breaking our profession'. 'There is an ever-increasing workload and never enough time. When time disappears, work intensification takes its place. This spiral is unsustainable,' he said. 'Let us call it what it is – burnout.' The union will on Wednesday morning launch the results of a study regarding health checks of educators across the country. In order to alleviate workplace stress, union members must insist upon the 'necessary goal' of reducing student contact hours to 20 per week, and classroom ratios to 20 students per class, he said. In terms of senior cycle reform, Mr Gillespie said his union had entered talks with the Department of Education 'in good faith'. The coming reforms, set to be introduced next September, have been a major bone of contention for teaching unions, which claim they will put an onerous burden on teachers while reducing educational standards. Mr Gillespie said that the union has 'already tabled a substantial set of proposals' which he said would centre the talks around "what our members need and what our students deserve'. 'If the system is to change, the supports must change too. Anything less will fail,' he said. He welcomed the minister for education's decision to allow teachers earlier access to a permanent contract, announced on Monday. However, he said schools should also receive enhanced allocations for teacher hours, with clearly defined 'career pathways' to keep teachers in the profession. Read More Leaving Cert reforms to proceed as planned despite concerns raised by teachers' unions
RTÉ News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Education funding 'paltry and pitiful'
The General Secretary of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) Michael Gillespie has said that the Irish education system continues to suffer from chronic and deliberate underfunding, which he described as a legacy of austerity prolonged by political indifference. Mr Gillespie made the remarks during an address to the TUI Annual Congress which is taking place in Wexford. "Our economic circumstances are no longer an excuse for paltry spending and pitiful investment," Mr Gillespie said. "The time for hollow promises is over. What is needed now is decisive, transformative investment in public education - investment that recognises the value of our work and the needs of our students," he added. The theme of this year's TUI Congress is 'Address Inequality, Invest in Education'. The conference will be addressed by Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless later today and by Minister for Education Helen McEntee tomorrow. The event is being attended by over 500 delegates and guests, with motions being debated on issues such as pay, pensions, housing and the conflict in Gaza. Pay On the issue of pay, the TUI General Secretary told delegates that a 1% pay increase linked to a local bargaining mechanism under the current public sector pay deal had created uncertainty. "The remaining 2% of the possible 3% increase is not guaranteed and will likely become a key battleground in the next round of pay negotiations," Mr Gillespie said. "This places a heavy reliance on a future deal, and introduces a real risk of delay or dilution." "However, it is essential that productivity-linked increases under local bargaining do not become a Trojan horse for additional workload, work intensification, or unrealistic efficiency demands," he added. Burnout The TUI General Secretary said that excessive workloads and work intensification are breaking the teaching profession. He told delegates that members have repeatedly raised the alarm about an ever-increasing workload and never enough time, a spiral he described as unsustainable. "It is becoming a serious health and well-being crisis. Let us call it what it is: burnout and the burnout is real and impacting our profession," Mr Gillespie said. Teacher shortages The TUI conference was told that the problem of teacher recruitment and retention is a crisis of the Government's own making, and the inevitable result of repeated decisions to force the education system to do more with fewer resources. The General Secretary said that the union welcomes the recent decision to allow teachers to gain permanent contracts sooner but that this is not enough. "To tackle the teacher supply crisis, further urgent steps are needed before it becomes a national emergency from which as other countries have discovered there is no coming back from," he said. Mr Gillespie called for enhanced allocations for schools so they can offer full hours to teachers, clear career pathways and progression opportunities for teachers to encourage them to stay in the profession, and the removal of barriers faced by teachers returning from abroad must be removed, starting with recognition of teaching service overseas. Leaving Cert reform The TUI conference was told that accelerated Senior Cycle reform is the most urgent and demanding challenge currently facing second-level education. Delegates heard that teachers are being asked to absorb sweeping changes to assessment models and methodologies, all while maintaining their existing teaching commitments. "This is creating an unsustainable workload and stretching school structures to breaking point," Mr Gillespie said. He added that if the reforms are to succeed, structural supports must be put in place. He also warned that the rapid evolution of technology and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) had brought both opportunities and serious challenges which must be strategically integrated into the process, not simply added on, so they support, rather than burden, educators. Speaking ahead of travelling to Killarney, Minister for Education Helen McEntee said she wanted to do what she could to support teachers to make sure that Leaving Certificate reforms would be a success. She said it was "really important" for students that reform moved ahead. Ms McEntee acknowledged that there was further work to be done on a number of fronts, including in relation to support for teachers on the subject of AI. Teachers are concerned that AI could be used inappropriately by students working on projects that form part of their final assessments and that in seeking to verify that work is students' own, they may not be able to detect this. One motion due to be debated by ASTI delegates seeks a legal indemnity for teachers in such a case. "AI is already here and it is most important that teachers know how to work with it," Ms McEntee said.
