Joint Committee Adopts INTO Recommendations on All-Island Education System

Mr Boyle also highlighted that Queen’s University Belfast did not fill all its places for teacher education courses in 2023.

Reflecting on Irish language teaching Mr. Boyle said “While there is a three-year period to meet the required standard, the government does not provide any support for doing so, with training courses generally only available from private institutions at significant cost.”

The Committee also heard practical solutions to the issue of teacher mobility. Teachers who train overseas generally have to remain in that jurisdiction to complete their induction. Temporary exemptions were introduced during the COVID-19 crisis to address teacher supply issues in Ireland. Mr Boyle told the Committee that this exemption had immediately resulted in around 80 teachers returning to do their induction here, primarily from England, Scotland and Wales. They then entered employment in Ireland. Graduates who complete their training in another jurisdiction will become used to the curriculum and will be less likely to return.

Mr Boyle advocated strongly that movement of teachers on the island should be able to access jobs on both sides of the Border. The INTO have been engaging with the Teaching Council to ensure that teachers registered in Northern Ireland who apply for registration in Ireland are fast-tracked and pay the same application fee as teachers in Ireland. Mr Boyle also advocated for  the full registration without conditions of primary teachers who graduate in Northern Ireland with Irish. The committee have urged the Department of Education to provide free courses for teachers from outside of Ireland who are trying to fulfil the Irish qualification.

As a result of growing concerns, the INTO has called for a forum to be established by the Department of the Taoiseach to examine education on the island of Ireland.

Speaking at the launch of the report at Leinster House this morning, Mr Boyle welcomed the committee’s recommendations in respect of the education sector and called on the committee to undertake some bespoke work on the future of the education systems on our shared island.

As the only education union organised North and South, the INTO is well-placed to act as a catalyst for much closer cooperation between everyone who has a shared interest in enhancing the education system on the island of Ireland. Indeed, since we presented to the committee, we have worked with sister education unions on the island to establish a North South Forum which has already met twice.

We see huge potential within the shared island initiative to bring about improvements in provision for future generations of school children and in particular for breaking down barriers to inclusion for children with additional needs and those who live in educationally disadvantaged communities. We need to see the next tranche of shared island funding focused on improving the provision of special education, building on the great work done by the Middletown Centre for Autism.

As we grapple with an unprecedented teacher supply crisis here, it behoves everyone to work tirelessly to make the profession more attractive for our world-renowned teachers to work on this island. As a union we fought for and secured a 25% increase in pay for new entrant teachers in Northern Ireland, but teachers’ salaries in the North still lag considerably behind their colleagues in the South.”

Recommendation 1: The Department of Education should explore measures to facilitate teachers crossing the border or working in both jurisdictions throughout their careers, including supports to meet the Irish language requirement for primary school teachers.

Recommendation 2: The Committee calls for increased co-operation North South on Further and Higher Education, including reducing barriers to cross-border student enrolment, particularly for students from the North studying in the South and strengthen North/South co-operation on apprenticeships and training.