MORE THAN 100 secondary-trained teachers working on temporary contracts in primary schools may have their wages cut by up to a third when new regulations are introduced by the Department of Education in September.
And many more secondary-trained teachers who take on primary substitution work may also be affected.
In the last 10 years as pupil number grew, teachers trained for secondary schools have been filling the growing demand for staff at primary schools.
However, an increase in the numbers of primary teachers being trained and an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio has meant secondary-trained teachers are no longer needed at primary level.
The new regulations, which come into force on September 1st, mean all new primary teacher appointments must have primary school qualifications. Secondary teachers had been treated and paid as qualified to teach at primary level, but the new regulations deem them unqualified.
Schools may employ an unqualified person if they have made every reasonable effort to recruit a qualified person and failed. But if a school gives a new post to a secondary teacher on a temporary basis, from September 1st that teacher will be paid as unqualified staff. This may mean a cut in wages of up to a third for some teachers.
In the school year 2009 to 2010, there were 111 temporary primary teachers who were post-primary trained. Many more were employed as substitute teachers. All were paid at primary-qualified rates.
One secondary-trained teacher, who did not wish to be named, said she was very concerned for her future.
She is due to take up a new temporary appointment in the forthcoming school year, but does not know whether she will be paid as a qualified or unqualified person. The Department of Education had given her mixed messages when she queried her status, she said, and she did not receive anything in writing from them.
“I cannot afford to take another pay cut,” she said.
Noel Ward, deputy general secretary of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, said the union was broadly supportive of the new regulations announced by the department.
“Our objective is to have only qualified teachers in primary schools,” he said.
He acknowledged the contribution secondary teachers had made in the past to the running of primary schools, but said there was now more availability of primary teachers. He did not believe there would be implications for many secondary-qualified teachers, but if there were they could have recourse under employment legislation.
Mr Ward said the union had lengthy discussions with the department, in particular in relation to the meaning of “new appointments”. The union was “entirely satisfied” that a person already in the system would not be regarded as a new appointment, he said.
In response to questions from The Irish Times, the Department of Education said secondary-trained teachers who, for example, cover maternity leave in a particular school and have breaks in their service, will be considered "new" appointments if they are offered further contracts.
This could mean they will not be employed at all despite possibly years of experience or their wages will be cut by up to a third if they are offered a temporary post.
