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AN EXPERT GROUP established as part of the Haddington Road agreement has made a ruling that will see teachers on part-time contracts able to keep their jobs after two years of service.
As it stands, teachers can be hired on part-time contracts and kept on those contacts for three years. However, the expert group has today ruled that that period be shortened to two years.
Under the ruling, teachers can now qualify for a contract of indefinite duration (CID) after two years of service, allowing them to hold their hours on a permanent basis. Teachers unions say it will come as a boon to young teachers, half of whom are on part-time contracts.
Unions say this means they “apply for fragments of jobs with no guarantee of being retained from year to year”.
The ruling has been welcomed by both the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI).
TUI General Secretary John MacGabhann said it would make life easier for students.
“As a result of casualisation of the profession, students are often taught a particular subject by a succession of teachers over the course of their Junior Cycle.
Today’s breakthrough will go a long way to dealing with this problem and providing teachers with viable career paths.
“It is a significant step in the right direction. We will continue to vigorously campaign for a return to the sound, educationally-valid practice of making initial teacher appointments on a permanent basis.”
ASTI’s Pat King said the key was security for teachers.
“The new system will afford teachers job security. It will also ensure that the profession remains attractive to graduates of a very high calibre.”
Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan also welcomed the ruling.
“This reform will represent a significant improvement in the job security and stability of employment for existing and future young teachers. Ultimately, this will benefit not only individual teachers, but our education system as a whole.”
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This is a pretty big deal. One of the reasons I decided against going into teaching.
Also the fact you hate kids
Lol Billy!
Four years qualified and I have a contract of less than five hours this year, having covered maternity leave in various schools for the last few years. Teaching is so much more of a struggle than I ever imagined it could be, and this, at least, is one step in the right direction.
Try 8 years, 10 interviews over the summer and 0 hours :(
Its a joke the current contract situation. I’m in the uk in my second year. Thankfully i had nothing keeping me at home. Have a full timetable in a decent school job security and experience something i couldnt get at home
My first job teaching was in the UK. I was offered a job back home, and promised I’d be permanent in 3 years, The cutbacks came in with the recession and I lost that job. I’ve had a few bits of subbing, and been really lucky to be able to go back and get an extra qualification in web technologies, but teaching is my real love. I did a BEd so I spent four years training. Sadly my subject, Art, is one that is being eroded left right and centre, as the push is for STEM as opposed to STEAM. Luckily when I do get something, even if it’s half hours I’m on the old scale. I wouldn’t mind only there are an abundance of teachers qualifying, and the ones out there can’t get into schools.
I don’t mean to be all woe is me, but should this development turn true it would be amazing. It would also be great if they could reverse the pupil teacher ratio cuts.
Couldn’t agree more with you. Teachers are getting a fairly bad bashing on a daily basis from parents the gov and school management. I just hope it doesn’t mean that teachers ate let go before the time limit which i have heard of happening. The current situation is unsustainable something had to change
So will it not just mean schools terminating the contract before 2 years service is up?
After six maternity leave postings that’s a real relief. Brilliant news.
Does it apply to maternity leave postings? The circular only made reference to career breaks and secondments ?
Nope – but it means when you get to the next level the road to a CID is shorter.
But does it not also mean that we will be applying for jobs against an increasing redeployment panel? Don’t get me wrong! I am genuinely delighted for those who this has effected! Many of my own friends are three and four years into Secondments and now finally are getting well deserved security but selfishly I’m concerned for my own prospects??
one of my sons working 11 years and has a 3 hour cid, he has called everyday since the 1st of september to try and get a back to work date, he was told today he has 2 hours work and has to drive 35kil to it. if he takes it he has to sign off, the dept of education are doing what they like to teachers that have or havent CIDS, and if you are any way interested in your job or admit to LOVE teaching they will use you every which way from your lesson plans to your ideas and then pass the hours out to a new teacher so they can start the CID cycle again, basically what is happening is, many teachers in the system working for 2-3 hours work a week during the academic year.
my advice to any teacher IMMIGRATE IMMEDIATELY while you are young, i see my son slowly dying inside, he wants to teach because he loves it but this government has just ruined education
They only count if it’s your own hours so those jobs won’t all be there
This has made my night
Pretty quiet here in the comments section. I mean…. It’s a story about those privileged , overpaid, untouchable public servants with their cast iron jobs and their mad pensions. I’d have thought this story would be full of the usual mob….
Say that to the hundreds of part time teachers on the dole after 4+ years of training and the hundreds if not thousands of others who are ‘privileged’ to be working part time contracts as low as 3 or 4 hours, and earning less than they would on the dole.
Jesus, some people don’t get sarcasm.
@ tony canning ” mad pensions” are you having a laugh, they are on 2-3 hour contracts, and in the case of my son he takes on extra work for nothing so that he tries to get the 2 hours work in the first place. there is alot of good will on the part of teachers and the dept of ed/ schools are exploiting every teacher and breaking every employment law in the book
granted there are those teachers that are unproductive but that is the fault of the the dept of ed and school management, they cant touch them now and these are the ones with the pensions, job security and can take sick days when they feel like it
Ann – like I said; sarcasm.
Since I qualified in 2012 I had 15 days of covering sick leave over the following 18 months. My comment above is a dig at those who are usually all over any teacher story to insist how “cushy” the job is (including job security etc) even in the face of blatant evidence.
@tony canning, my apologies and thanks for clarifying , sorry to read about your circumstances
a move in the right direction, people need a job not hours !
To be fair, some people may be happy with half hours or non-full hours. Of course a full timetable would be ideal, but many would be happy to be about 2/3′s of a contract.
Is the only difference a reduction from 3 years to 2 years? How will this make anyone on a part time contract anymore likely to get a permanent contract. I also think it will make very little impact on students in their junior cycle.
A ban on job sharing in the teaching profession would open even more doors for young dedicated teachers. I’ve been through a year of it with my kids + neither half time teacher gave a toss. It’s a disaster + if the school calls u in to tell u how great it will be don’t be conned. Total mess
No. firstly, that is illegal, and secondly why shouldn’t people job share to enable them to raise their families or upskill, or take up leadership roles, volunteer etc… If you have a problem with the way a school is run, write toe the Parent teacher association, or to the principal, don’t moan. Job sharing actually gets those “young, dedicated teachers” feet in the door in many places.
I am in my second year on my own hours. does that mean that I will be entitled to a CID at the end of this year does anyone know?
Older teachers are also dedicated! Twelve years teaching on temporary contract, I’m still as enthusiastic as I was day one albeit slightly embittered by all the negative press Teachers get for doing their job and cheek of cheek expecting to get a living wage for it! If you want young teachers to get teaching opportunities campaign for smaller class sizes. We’re a considerable degree above the OECD average. It’s pretty amazing what teachers achieve with their students considering this.
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