UP TO 23 primary schools had to advertise three times in order to fill a school principal position, according to the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN).

The IPPN said that a lack of applications is responsible for the difficulty of filing vacant posts, reports RTÉ.

The IPPN, which says that July is usually the busiest time of year for job seekers, received notable results from its recruitment website: EducationPosts.ie showed that more and more teachers are shunning principal positions.

Since the beginning of the year, 161 principal posts have been advertised. However, 54% of schools have had to re-advertise the posts within the past two months.

The IPPN blames the  heavy workload of principals on the lack of applicants; many principals are expected to teach classes while running the school at  the same time.

New proposals for student teachers launched by Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan will not help the situation, according to the Irish National Teachers Organisation.

While the measures have been presented as a support network for teachers, critics say that in reality the proposals offer just the opposite. They say that the motivation behind the proposals is implementing cuts, not providing guidance to teachers.