”I’m not shocked by this figure and more needs to be done to make teaching more attractive.”
So says Simon Lewis principal of Educate Together Carlow.
It comes as 18-hundred teaching posts remain vacant across the country, with schools struggling to hire qualified staff.
Most vacancies are at primary level, while at second level, subjects like home economics, physics and engineering are seeing the biggest shortages.
The cost of housing, particularly in larger cities is being blamed by principals.
But Mr Lewis says it’s more than housing: ”There’s a number of reasons, teaching isn’t as an attractive option as it used to be, not as many people are getting into it and many are leaving it. It’s been a problem for over a decade and the department need to do more on this. ”
