Staff in Irish Early Learning and Care (ELC) have among the highest rates of sector-specific qualification across the OECD but are more likely to be unhappy in their jobs, with half saying they are likely to leave their jobs within five years, according to a newly published international report.
The Teaching and Learning International Survey (Talis) Starting Strong document, published by the OECD, finds 97 per cent of workers in the sector here have a post-Leaving Certificate qualification, a rate that is behind only Spain and Japan in the 15 countries covered.
Ireland and Japan also tie, however, for the lowest levels of staff satisfaction with their jobs, at 76 per cent, while 49 per cent of workers in the Irish sector, almost all of them women, many of them young, say they are likely or very likely to leave within five years in order to care for family members.
The findings suggest staff in Irish settings generally regard themselves as well equipped for the role. Though the percentage of staff with post-Leaving Certificate, sector-specific training is very high due to regulatory requirements, a significant portion of qualifications involved are level four and five certificates, with Ireland still lagging behind the likes of Spain, Turkey, Germany and Denmark when it comes to more qualified workers.
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The results suggest that staff here view the cost of pursuing additional qualifications as prohibitive, with 65 per cent saying fees are too high, far more than in the other European countries covered and level with Colombia. Only Peru returned a larger proportion.
Staff shortages are highlighted under a number of different headings and 45 per cent of managers say they are impacting on the ability of preschool services to provide a quality environment for learning, about four times the figure for Spain. In Ireland, the figure jumps to 60 per cent in settings catering for children aged below three.
The report suggests the Irish system is among the most reliant on the private for-profit sector, although the proportion of providers receiving funding from the State is among the highest across the 15 countries.
The proportion of parents required to contribute to costs is also high by international standards, however.
With regard to retention, those surveyed in Ireland also cited the possibility they would leave the sector to care for family members, work in another area or, more specifically, return to college to become a primary schoolteacher.
The report, which is largely based on pre-existing research in the individual countries, suggests staff in Irish settings are less experienced on average than in many comparable countries, with fewer staff having spent 10 years in the sector and more having entered within the previous three than in almost any of the other countries. The proportion of full-time staff in the sector is also lower here.
Managers in the Irish sector, however, tend to feel they are well trained and informed. Fewer than a third of Irish staff said they felt valued for their work by society, levels only seen in Chile, Norway, Sweden and Japan.
Responding to the findings, Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley said that “while many of the findings are positive, they also shine a light on long-standing challenges around recruitment, retention, workload and professional status, challenges that are shared across most participating jurisdictions”.
“The Government recognises early years educators as vital to delivering quality early learning and care and is actively addressing recruitment and retention challenges.”
She said the report would feed into the Government’s work on implementing Nurturing Skills, its workforce plan for Early Learning and Care and school-age childcare.
