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Thinking of a career move into secondary teaching.

KeithKelly1992

I’m 32 so would be a bit older transferring over. I regret not going into teaching from the beginning.

If I did the 2 year HDIP when I graduated in 2013 I would’ve started in 2015 and I’d have 9 years’ experience on the payment scale, ie, I’d be on €56,153. This however is with only 22 hours teaching per week with 18 weeks of A/L per year.

In my current role (metrology specialist) I earn €55,000 plus 12% pension from the company plus a 10% yearly bonus which I can optionally take as shares (and only pay prsi, usc).

If I do the HDIP now, it’ll be 2 years. It takes 27 years to reach the top of the payscale which will bring me to 61/62 years old with €81,000 (which is index linked) so will potentially be €100,000 by then, which is guaranteed with no increase in responsibility.

I will retire on half that salary plus SPC giving a nice earner.

Even if I don’t get CID, you’re guaranteed CID pay after 2 years subbing anyway regardless of contact hours. Then there’s grinds money too.

My degree is Science with a focus mainly on physics.

Am I missing anything or am I looking through rose tinted glasses?

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spurious

You're presuming full hours or a full contract very early on. Have you checked out ads for Science/Physics teachers?

You're also presuming you will stick at it. Have you any teaching or subbing experience? Experience dealing with teenagers who don't want to do what you are asking them to do?

Are you qualified to teach Maths? That might help.

KeithKelly1992

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122668526#Comment_122668526

Two years of my degree are heavily maths based but ultimately it’s up to the TC if they accept.

Geuze

PS salaries are not index-linked.

PS do not get a pension of half their salary PLUS the State Pension.

dory

Go for it if you think it's what you would like to do, but I would strongly recommend getting some experience before making the leap. And look into the pension situation. You certainly don't retire on half your final salary anymore.

Oscar_Madison

you so t retire on 1/2 salary- it will take you 2 years to become a teacher - assuming you get fulltime work by the time your 66 you’ll only have 30/80ths - so 37,5% of your salary not 50-%

Pension: 1/80th of Final Pensionable Salary for each year of Pensionable Service (maximum 40/80ths).

Peter Flynt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058371349/thinking-of-a-career-move-into-secondary-teaching

No way are you going to be retiring on 50K. More like 20K if you're lucky. You're not guaranteed CID subbing. In fact you're guaranteed nothing subbing. Regrding grinds? Vast majority don't go near grinds for very good reason.

Happyhouse22

I had a glance at this post earlier and have to admit my first thought was this guy sure is focused on the financial benefits of teaching and not on the actual job itself.

In retrospective that is unfair, I have no inclination as to your aptitude or internet in teaching and have no reason to believe you haven’t sorted this part of it already in your head and want to focus on the very important financial aspect.

Unfortunately many of your assumptions are just wrong. Some are just minor, teaching salaries and not index linking, but do tend to rise broadly in line with inflation for example.However some things yiu are very wrong about. If you work for 27 years and reach the top of the scale you would be entitled to a pension much much less than 50% of your final salary. Also this amount includes the Old age pension and is not in addition to it.

Teaching pensions are now calculated using a career average formula instead of being based on final pension, in real terms this means most pensions will be much lower especially for those with less than 40 years service. You will have 27.

endacl

You’ll be a new entrant to the superannuation scheme. This is not nearly as gold plated as the old scheme. I’d look into it very carefully. If you’re not on full hours for each year, your 1/80th for that year is reduced pro rata. You only increase your combined pension over state contributory after your prsi contributions have reached a threshold. If you find yourself scrambling for hours for a good chunk of the start of you’re career you may find, pension-wise, you’re no better off than any paye worker relying on state pension alone. There’s no way of ‘boosting’ income through the various pensionable alliwances. They’re all done away with.

KeithKelly1992

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122670357#Comment_122670357

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I never copped that the SPC was incorporated into the pension.

The SPC is €271.90 per week or €14,138.80 per anum.

Say I worked only 17 years, my final pension would be

(17/80)*€69,857

€14,844.

Pretty much the same as the SPC.

Surely public sector workers should have reduced PRSI obligations?

endacl

Yep. You’d pay prsi to fund your state pension, and a superannuation contribution (a percentage of net salary) to fund the excess.

KeithKelly1992

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122671510#Comment_122671510

What percentage is taken from your salary for pension contributions?

From what I can see public sector pensions aren’t that great, but they’re “guaranteed” in a sense and index linked to current ps pay rises.

With wise investments you could grow your private pension pot substantially.

jrmb

What would your subjects be? Are they core? Do you have each one to degree level? I've met chemists who are teachers but not "chemistry teachers" on the Teaching Council's terms, and in my case getting a second master's wasn't compatible with adding more subjects, so check that carefully.

KeithKelly1992

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122671887#Comment_122671887

I’d probably have to check eligibility with the TC.

I studied Science with Nanotechnology at DIT.

What do you mean “chemists who are teachers but not chemistry teachers”?

jrmb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122671905#Comment_122671905

Your subject qualifications have to come from undergraduate taught studies. Subtract postgrads/masters, self-directed projects, work placements and dissertations and you may find that you don't actually have enough credits. Half of my undergraduate degree went unrecognised.

KeithKelly1992

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122671930#Comment_122671930

Jeepers that’s unbelievable!

So I could (hypothetically) have TWO PhDs, one in physics and one in maths an be ineligible?

Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein would be “less qualified” to teach PP maths and physics than someone who just about meets the TC requirements? Bizarre setup.

jrmb

Yep, nail on the head.

Geuze

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122671605#Comment_122671605

4% for PRSI class A, for PS hired since April 1995, which goes towards the SPC.

6.5% is the headline rate of pension conts for most PS, but it is not as simple as 6.5% of your wages.

Then there is the ASC since 2009/2010.

That is 10% for pre 2013 staff and less % for members of the SPSPS.

endacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122671990#Comment_122671990

Yep. I also get a masters allowance of €6564 per annum. For an MSc in a subject that is entirely unrelated to my teaching work. Not complaining, obviously, but it doesn’t make an iota of sense.

endacl

Oh. And there’s no HDip any more. You’ll need the Masters in Education. That’s a two year commitment, with MA fees.

Dept don’t appear to want teachers. The teaching council is the organisational equivalent of a plug of matted hair blocking up the shower.

KeithKelly1992

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122672583#Comment_122672583

Foes the MA in education count towards the masters allowance? You’re essentially getting an “allowance” for a qualification you should have anyway.

Just to clarify, the pension is no longer

(years worked/80)x final salary?

it’s

(yw/80) x average salary?

jrmb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122672844#Comment_122672844

No, the master's allowance is a legacy thing that newcomers can't get.

You need to figure out what subject your degree would enable you to teach. A PME provider or the Teaching Council itself might not say (!), and any speculation about earnings at this stage is pointless.

Exiled1

A few questions….

How do you know you would like to be a teacher? Do you have any evidence other than youthful ambition resurrected?

Have you tested yourself in any way with a group of students? ie. have you coached extensively, taught, lectured to any groups?

Have you checked your qualifications with the Teaching Council as mentioned above?

How do you know you would be good? ….. because if not, it can be a lonely place.

Are you aware there is a shortage of Maths teachers but a surplus of Science teachers?

Are you prepared to get serious training in Special Needs in order to help you get a job?

Are you prepared to accept 2 or more years of subbing/ part time contracts etc. before you nail a full time job?

Have you spoken with an experienced professional who can give you some worthwhile advice, eg. somebody in the teaching field whom know and trust and who will give you honest answers? eg. a school guidance counsellor, Principal/ Deputy?

If you are passionate and have had good advice, then why not?

If you are sure it is for you and have done proper due diligence, do it.

Notice there is very little mention of money in any of my questions

Best wishes.

HazeDoll

I sat in the staff room today during a free class. There were about 12 other teachers there.

The conversation topics were as follows:

1 : Has anybody looked into working with Oide or any of the other teaching-adjacent bull5hit academies? How bad could it be? Bad, obviously, but it couldn't be worse than this, could it?

2 : It's only the first of October. How could it still only be the first of October?

3 : How do we get out? Very difficult to make a move into another career, but looking at the future of teaching fills us with dread. Does anybody know somebody who successfully got out? Does anybody know a way out?

I think that a person who has made a career for themselves in any other field would be mad to consider teaching.

endacl

10 more years….

endacl

minus one month!

maude6868

3 more years for me to get to 33/55 but seriously considering going after this year on cost neutral. 'All changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty is born'. I feel exactly like the poster above, is it only October? Anyone else here go early and did you regret it?

nearby_cheetah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122673504#Comment_122673504

Have teachers, at any time, not complained about the job/pay/conditions/something in the past 50 years?

What you are saying might be true but needs to be taken in that context. It's not exactly news.

nearby_cheetah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122671012#Comment_122671012

Surely public sector workers should have reduced PRSI obligations?

Be aware that pension contributions under the new PS scheme have high thresholds before deductions are applied so occupational pensions deductions are quite small as a percentage of your salary.

KeithKelly1992

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122674138#Comment_122674138

Say a teacher (hypothetically) works for 27 years after getting hired and retires in their early 50’s.

They will then be at the top of the payscale, ie, €81,000.

They can retire early in their early 50’s on (27/80)*€81,000 less SPC which is ca. €14,000 pa.

That’s still a guaranteed income of over €13,000 p/a that they can receive in addition to whatever other job they transfer to, whether it’s public or private.

Do I have my figures wrong?

jrmb

Your hypothesis is based on a very young teacher with exceptional (really exceptional) luck and success. It's unusual to start and remain on full hours, no matter how good a teacher is. You're looking in the wrong place for anything "guaranteed".