“It’s an emergency, we need to treat it like that.”
This is the view of Maynooth-based secondary schoolteacher Aidan Corkery (37) regarding the flight of newly qualified teachers to sunnier climes.
“I have four PME (Professional Master of Education) students doing geography, I think the public and the Government do not realise the mindset of young teachers. On Instagram you’ve all these people selling life abroad and I don’t blame them for biting at it,” says Corkery.
This is just one of the challenges outlined by a group of teachers in Maynooth Community College (MCC), when they sat down with The Irish Times recently in the school principal’s spacious office.
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MCC, located on the Maynooth Education Campus, was opened in September under the patronage of Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board. It is a coeducational multi-denominational school, with just over 870 students.
To the rear of MCC there is another secondary, Maynooth Post Primary School, which actor Paul Mescal attended. Both schools, renowned for the quality of their musicals, were officially opened by Minister for Education Norma Foley in November 2023.
Niamh Whyte (39), who is an English and SPHE (Social, Personal and Health Education) teacher, explains the challenges she faced on returning to Ireland after teaching for 14 years in Australia.
“Firstly it took seven months to register with the Teaching Council, then I was informed that for my service in Australia to be recognised, it has to be in a state school. After I kicked and screamed I got seven years recognised, but I’m still not getting paid for all the years I have worked,” she says.
Sitting beside her is Mikaela Mahon (37) who is also an English and SPHE teacher and for whom housing is a big issue. “I grew up in Maynooth but I can’t buy a house in Maynooth,” she says.
The public perception of teachers is another standout issue for her. “When it suits political agendas, if something is going wrong, ‘what are teachers doing? It’s the teachers’ fault’. If you’re not in the profession you’re not aware of the preparation there is for class, it feels like you can’t win,” says Mahon.
The economic crash in 2008 and the effects of the subsequent austerity measures are still being felt by many young teachers, including Elaine Campbell (37) who is a History and English teacher.
She says that during the austerity years she and thousands of other young teachers had no choice but to leave Ireland to secure work or undertake the PGDE (Professional Graduate Diploma in Education). “This is categorised as a break in service, so I was financially penalised by Fine Gael and Labour because they didn’t give us employment opportunities back then,” says Campbell, who wants the 26 week break in service clause rescinded or amended.
As a result of her break in service, Campbell was put into the 2013 Single Public Service Pension Scheme. “My pension requires higher contributions and is based on average career earnings resulting in a smaller pension. This means I am roughly €277,900 worse off in retirement than the 2009 scheme which I paid into,” she says. Campbell is looking for partial restoration of pension parity to balance the older pension schemes with the Single Public Service Pension Scheme.
Another issue for her is the lack of a voluntary redeployment scheme for Kildare. This is despite it being available for 11 years under a regionalised ‘pilot’ scheme in Cavan, Leitrim, Sligo and Monaghan, and to teachers outside of Dublin who wish to be redeployed to a school in Dublin.
“I would love to move home to Cavan, but I’d have to give up my permanent job, which would have consequences for mortgage applications, and I would lose €5,000 from my salary if I gave up my post of responsibility,” says Campbell.
Sean McSharry (43), from Leitrim but living in Edenderry, teaches History and also works with students with special needs. He feels that the PME should be reduced from two years to its previous duration of one year. “All the unions want it to go back to one year, there’s no reason for it to be two years,” he says.
“It’s a money racket,” interjects Corkery.
McSharry continues: “Going to college costs a fortune, I was lucky, I had savings. You can’t afford to rent in Dublin while going to college and working, it costs €50,000 going to college for two years.”
Further bones of contention are the lack of availability and affordability of special education needs assessments, the reform of the Leaving Certificate and the lack of IT resources.
While there are many issues facing these teachers and their colleagues, the wellbeing of their students remains their paramount consideration. “The majority of teachers have student welfare at heart,” says McSharry.
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