Teaching Council Registration - does it always take this long?

bubblemassage · 24-11-2020 1:41pm #1

Hi, registered for teaching in FE back in July but still haven't received a number.

I'm currently in initial teacher training. They sent me back documents which I corrected/updated back in September, it's nearly Dec and I'm still waiting to hear back.

The documents they sent back were v nitpicky. The kind of stuff a simple phone call to me or an institution would clarify instantly instead of 3 months later rejecting the entire application and sending it back. It's so frustrating as I read the documentation carefully before and spent a lot of time chasing down documents and references, ultimately wasting the time of many other people who I know in a professional capacity.

Anytime I ring them the phones ring out. I really wonder what's going on there at all. Surely registering teachers in a timely fashion would be the number one priority what with the large amount of additional staff needed in schools this year? It's really heartbreaking as my host school is offering me paid work which I must turn down.

Does anyone have any tips? I just joined the union to see if they can help me.

Postgrad10 · 24-11-2020 2:52pm

Did you do your undergrad abroad? That’s usually what makes them so nitpicky in the first place.

bubblemassage · 24-11-2020 4:01pm

Nope - all in Ireland, and all character references from Irish institutions.

Postgrad10 · 24-11-2020 4:05pm

I got mine through in a week back in 2011 but I hear they are an absolute torture nowadays. I feel so sorry for you. Have you checked on voice for teachers Facebook? You might get more response there from people going through the same.

French Toast · 24-11-2020 7:15pm

I remember registering through FE during my PME, think I had it back in 4 weeks.

spurious · 25-11-2020 9:07am

I guess it's one more thing to cross off the list of 'what do the Teaching Council actually do?'

OP, perhaps get onto a TD and let them set a rocket up them. Disgraceful that we are paying handsomely for this shower.

Treppen · 25-11-2020 2:36pm

There was an old urban legend that you'll get through quicker if you opt for "as gaeilge" when ringing in.
Don't know if that's still a thing

stiofan85 · 25-11-2020 5:03pm

Sent in my forms back in August, got my number this week.

They are a pain to deal with.

RealJohn · 25-11-2020 6:35pm

Treppen wrote: »

There was an old urban legend that you'll get through quicker if you opt for "as gaeilge" when ringing in.
Don't know if that's still a thing

It’s hit and miss, I’m afraid. I think they’ve worked out that one guy they hired to answer the contrarians who insist on using Irish can still answer in english too, so I don’t think you do any better that way anymore.

Cateym · 29-11-2020 3:48pm

I did mine in 2017. Submitted it in early May and my registration was approved late October.

bubblemassage · 10-12-2020 6:26pm

Just an update - TC rejected my application again because my character reference had used photos of his signature and school stamp, which unfortunately was the best they could do. They requested the person print, sign and scan the document and email it from the work email. I'm at the point now where I've had to ask this person 3 times for a character reference due to the changing requests from the TC. It's a nightmare. What are we paying them to do?

Treppen · 10-12-2020 7:37pm

******* shower of *****

2011abc · 10-12-2020 7:56pm

Have they passed the twenty million euro mark yet !Can we liquidate then by plebiscite and divvy up the lodgements ?Do they own or rent Maynooth office ?

Polka_Dot · 10-12-2020 9:57pm

Ridiculous - I submitted mine in August with a photo of a my reference's signature, it was approved in 5 weeks with no questions (and I was fully expecting it not to be approved). Guess it depends who you get

French Toast · 16-12-2020 5:52pm

It's a stone-wall useless organisation.

Are many of it's employees former teachers, I wonder?

bubblemassage · 17-12-2020 11:21am

Finally got it today. They made so many typos and errors on the cert, inc one that could potentially affect income. They put a masters qualification into the "other qualifications" instead of postgrad. I guess I just have to live with it now. Can't believe it took so long, and they still went and treated information so carelessly. I can only hope that the organisation is dissolved. Thanks everyone for all your help on this thread!

Treppen · 17-12-2020 1:49pm

bubblemassage wrote: »

Finally got it today. They made so many typos and errors on the cert, inc one that could potentially affect income. They put a masters qualification into the "other qualifications" instead of postgrad. I guess I just have to live with it now. Can't believe it took so long, and they still went and treated information so carelessly. I can only hope that the organisation is dissolved. Thanks everyone for all your help on this thread!

Fair play!
Anytime I see "Teaching Council" in a thread title I feel instant sympathy for the OP

fisgon · 19-01-2021 10:51pm

They are basically an organization whose whole purpose is to try and justify their existence by making it as difficult as possible to register, on the basis that if it is difficult to get into, it must be worth joining.

The hoops you have to jump through as an Further Ed teacher are endless, and you really get the impression that they are being paid to put up barriers to entry. The ultimate in pointless bureaucrats that serve no useful function.

ethical · 19-01-2021 11:10pm

This shower are worse than NORMA....and thats saying something!

spurious · 20-01-2021 2:31pm

fisgon wrote: »

They are basically an organization whose whole purpose is to try and justify their existence by making it as difficult as possible to register, on the basis that if it is difficult to get into, it must be worth joining.

The hoops you have to jump through as an Further Ed teacher are endless, and you really get the impression that they are being paid to put up barriers to entry. The ultimate in pointless bureaucrats that serve no useful function.

Try being a foreign trained teacher.
I personally know Polish and Slovakian teachers (both fluent in English and in 'in demand' subject areas) who eventually just gave up. Some mickey mouse clerical officer questioning Masters degrees and PhDs from some of Europe's oldest most prestigious universities. It made me sick.

Kirby Puckett · 20-01-2021 8:05pm

spurious wrote: »

Try being a foreign trained teacher.
I personally know Polish and Slovakian teachers (both fluent in English and in 'in demand' subject areas) who eventually just gave up. Some mickey mouse clerical officer questioning Masters degrees and PhDs from some of Europe's oldest most prestigious universities. It made me sick.

This is ludicrous.

I haven't had to deal with the Teaching Council yet, but the PME provider did something similar (ok, I don't have a PhD but a legitimate undergraduate degree from the continent nonetheless). They put the onus on me to prove that my degree was acceptable and I did everything they asked of me (annoying many former lecturers and coordinators in the process). After all this, they rejected it and told me to take their own courses (with no explanation). So no matter what you do, they will never treat you like one of their own graduates.

The thing that annoys me most is that they dismissed my suggestion of bias. "It's not bias, we're just making sure that people who graduated in other countries aren't complete frauds and that they supplement their studies with our far superior courses".

How do people get away with this in the 21st century?

mistersifter · 03-02-2021 9:46pm

My own experience with the council:

There's a shortage of language teachers, I'm told. I'm offered full-time hours in a post primary school. School is very eager to get me in as it has been struggling to fill this role for a good while.

I apply for route two. My background is:

undergrad, master's, and doctorate in my area along with a good few years' third-level teaching and lecturing experience, and various other qualifications in teaching and languages.

I'm told i dont meet the requirements for post-primary teaching as I dont have the masters in education, which used to be one year but is now a two year course for some reason. No compromise, no conversion opportunities. It would cost be 15 grand to get this qualification, which is lower on the NFQ than a doctorate.

Madness. A box-ticking affair and an absolute money racket.

Kirby Puckett · 03-02-2021 10:23pm

mistersifter wrote: »

My own experience with the council:

There's a shortage of language teachers, I'm told. I'm offered full-time hours in a post primary school. School is very eager to get me in as it has been struggling to fill this role for a good while.

I apply for route two. My background is:

undergrad, master's, and doctorate in my area along with a good few years' third-level teaching and lecturing experience, and various other qualifications in teaching and languages.

I'm told i dont meet the requirements for post-primary teaching as I dont have the masters in education, which used to be one year but is now a two year course for some reason. No compromise, no conversion opportunities. It would cost be 15 grand to get this qualification, which is lower on the NFQ than a doctorate.

Madness. A box-ticking affair and an absolute money racket.

This is probably the most extreme example of various different issues I've heard of people having with the TC. Disgraceful.

What can we do to put an end to this madness? Have there been strikes/protests/angry calls to Joe Duffy?

mistersifter · 03-02-2021 10:42pm

Kirby Puckett wrote: »

This is probably the most extreme example of various different issues I've heard of people having with the TC. Disgraceful.

What can we do to put an end to this madness? Have there been strikes/protests/angry calls to Joe Duffy?

It's a relief to hear that this sounds as mad to others as it did to me when I got the answer back.

I haven't a clue what can be done and would love to hear from someone who knows the ropes more than I do. I would definitely be interested in taking collective action to put an end to it, and I will try to appeal through the formal channel (I think such a process exists).

I had 22 contact hours lined up. The principal got on to the council about it to ask them to approve - no luck.

The school is rural and cant find a teacher. So there are a lot of students who are suffering because of this decision. I waited three months for that response.

They said they will now process my application via route three, which will allow me to take hours temporarily but with no long-term CID possibilities. No good to me.

I wont be paying 15k to do a PME after spending 10 years studying in my field that's for sure.

Teaching Council Registration - does it always take this long?

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