Primary School Teaching Jobs

wager

Hi there,
I have been reading posts about primary school teaching and people thinking about leaving their job to take up primary school teaching after having finished a degree. I have a degree, a few years work experience and I am now furthering my studies at postgraduate level.
There seems to be a lot of talk about the number of qualified teachers that graduate each year (as in the number is high thus implying that there are not jobs for all the graduates) Is this the case?
I had a look on education posts for main stream primary teaching positions and there seemed to be about 20-30 posts with 2/3 being permanent.
So my question - are there jobs for the up and coming primary school teacher?
Is it worth considering paying about E10,000 to do the 18mth course.
Is it ever too late to get a job as a primary school teacher? I know there is no cut off in terms of upper age.
One last one - what is the salary of a primary school teacher starting out and the additional educational qualifications for which you get extra pay - must they be related primary education?
Thanks in advance for your comments .. any info appreciated.

byhookorbycrook

There is a huge oversupply of primary teachers at present, even subbing is hard to get, it is impossible to say how long this will last, as the DES increased the pupil-teacher ratio so many jobs were cut and future ones lost.

Salary scale you will find here:
http://www.into.ie/ROI/InformationforTeachers/Salaries/CommonBasicScale/

wager

Hi byhookorbycrook,
Thanks for your reply. It always tough to get an idea as to how difficult it is to get a job in a particular area until you are looking for one! I don't think the figures add up with all the graduates and the rate of retirement, but only someone in the system can actually feel this. But surely there are jobs out there for teachers at some point?
How do you graduate form the different pay scale - is it proportional to the number of years you are qualified or working?
Thanks for your reply.

wager

just saw the scale explanation.
2 year trained start on point 1 of the incremental scale
3 year trained start on point 2 of the incremental scale
4 year trained start on point 3 of the incremental scale
all understood there!

pooch90

If you've done the 3 yr straight degree you'd start on point 2 of the scale, then every year you're in employment you move up a notch on it.

It's really tough at the minute to secure anything better than a maternity leave, and there's fierce competition for even those.

Don't see it improving for the next 4 years to be honest. The backlog of unemployed teachers is massive, they like to fudge the stats a bit to make it seem better but it's really gloomy.

It's a depressing profession to be in at the minute (this is my 4th year qualified with a bucket of experience dating back way before college) and still nothing secured, many friends in same boat. It takes a really thick skin to put up with all the demoralising crap.


RE: extra qualifications allowance, they seem to all be education based eg M.Ed etc... Will have proper look when eyes not drooping....

Hope I haven't put you off completely, but it's been a long long week of screaming children!

carriedaway

Hi All, new user how do ye do,

I have been thinking about applying for the Hibernia teaching course, just wondering if any teachers in the industry at the moment could give me advice on job prospects. My situation is as follows, I have a first class B.Comm and a h.dip in community development, and currently work in the community sector. I will be out of a job by Sept due to cutbacks with no real prospect of getting related work in the forseeable future. As part of my job I run an afterschools club with primary school students and enjoy the work which is what drew me to the Hibernia course. I am male and have excellent Irish (i am from the Gaeltacht) and consider myself to be a well rounded individual and confident in most situations. Just wondering is it worth giving them 10,000 to do the conversion course. I hear that there is a massive backlog of unemployed teachers all doing a days subbing here and there and that employment prospects are bleak, I have a few friends who did the Hibernia course that are not working. I have two young kids and cannot afford to spend 10,000 unless I am confident I can secure a job out of it. Are things really that bad out there I suppose is what I'm asking? I don't expect anybody to have a crystal ball but how do ye see recruitment going in the sector over the next 5 years say? Any advice however is appreciated.

pooch90

All I can do is give you my own situation. Have been qualified from Mary I for 4 years and haven't gotten a contract that lasted any longer than 7 months. Loads of experience in every class setting/multi grade and Gaelscoil included. had loads of experience going into college too. I would say over the next five years things may improve for those of us already out and getting known in our areas but I'm not sure about people straight out of Hibernia.

It's all dependent on your flexibility, if you have kids I'd imagine you wouldn't want to uproot to another part of the country?? Every area is different when it come to recruitment ie Cork is nearly impossible to get into, Wexford etc are much more open to 'blow ins'. That being said, you're a man! This puts you about 3 levels closer to being a god in the present system, and with Irish behind you you're a very impressive candidate. Only you can know what will be right for you and your family, the price is bloody ridiculous though!

carriedaway

Thanks pooch90, was thinking that it might be a real struggle if and when I qualify to secure any type of work, but then again the prospects in my current sector (community) are even more hopeless at the moment. I have heard that in some cases (e.g. kids mortgage etc) that Hibernia are willing to bend a little on the 10,000 euro fee down to as little as 6,000, not sure if this is the case or not but a guy I know that did it said some of his classmates told him they negotiated a reduced fee. I suppose there isn't a single sector that it's easy to break into at the moment and teaching is much the same, can't afford to spend the next few years subbing a day here and there but then again who can I suppose. Good luck getting something more solid, why do you make reference to me being a man by the way, didn't think the M/F ratio was that bad that men automatically get the jobs over women?

BTW I would consider moving for a job as I thank my lucky stars every day that I don't have a mortgage or any debt of any sort so nothing really tying myself and my wife down

pooch90

men are way more likely to gain full time employment in the primary school sector-grossly unfair but it's the reality. Thank your XYs!

Incy Wincy

I did the Hibernia course whilst working full time in a health related area. The job you have while doing the course needs to be mundane as you will need all your mental energy for the evenings with online classes / tutorials as well as onsite classes every second or third saturday. The course is advertised as part time but the workload made it full time. I left my desk at work and spent most evenings either researching for assignments or preparing for teaching practice or attending online tutorials. The course was only 6k when I did it back in 2005 so it's gone up quite a bit....I graduated and did 2 maternity covers both commencing is sept which meant I was out of a job in April / May both years...on the third year I landed a permanent job and have thankfully been there since.

I have a friend who is doing Hibernia final exams next month and hoping to get a maternity leave at least....they made good contacts while out doing teaching practice in different schools and this helped get their name out there.

Overall the big picture is that there is always natural attrition...people retiring, emmigrating etc so kids will always need to be taught so although there isn't a huge demand now that does not take away from the fact that schools will always exist therefore jobs in teaching will always be there.

It is alot of money for fork out, having a family etc....I am mortgage free and child free myself....renting at 35 but what the heck...renting a 3 bed semi is still less that a mortgage repayment for 190k which to be honest does not buy you much.


Whatever your decision I wish you the best for the future.