A NEW SURVEY from the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has found that less than one third of teachers receive a contract for full-time hours when they first enter jobs.

The survey of over 1,000 TUI members also highlighted concerns around affordability in the profession for new entrants with almost 80% of longer serving teachers saying they could not afford to enter the field today.

Just 17% of those who entered jobs after 1 January 2011 were offered a permanent contract upon initial appointment while just 35% received a contract of full hours. 

Of those surveyed, 66% said it took three years or more to receive a contract with full hours.

The survey also found that 36% of those who have been in the profession for less than ten years were also do not believe they will still be teaching in ten years time.

Respondents were also asked about how affordability issues are affecting them and their colleagues. A total of 34% said they are aware of teachers who have left positions due to issues with accommodation.

Concerns were also raised around supports for students with special needs with 68% of teachers saying their schools do not have all the required supports for these students.

TUI is calling for targeted measures to address these issues and ensure teaching remains an attractive, sustainable profession with a fair and manageable workload.

TUI President Anthony Quinn said “schools need greater teaching allocations to allow them to offer more than fractions of jobs”.

He is also calling for the duration of the two-year Professional Master in Education (PME) required to teach at second level to be “halved to make the profession more affordable”.

“Teaching has become too expensive for many in Irish society, as evidenced by the current recruitment crisis which sees students experiencing larger class sizes and having less access to the full breadth of subjects.”

TUI are hosting their annual congress this week from tomorrow 7 April to Thursday 9 April in Kilkenny.

It will be attended by 500 delegates and addressed by Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton and Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless.