Sir, – Further to “Secondary schools struggle to fill hundreds of posts” (News, January 1st), I think I’ve solved the problem of the missing teachers. They’re living and working in Sydney.
I teach in a small special needs/diverse learning school in Sydney’s inner west. We have a classroom staff of around 45, of which about a third are young Irish teachers in their mid-twenties. There is a large table in the staff room which is abuzz with regional accents from around the country. A few months back we were joined by a teacher from Tyrone which completed the set of staff from all four provinces.
Why are they here? Travel and adventure? Lifestyle? They certainly congregate in the beach-side suburbs. Better pay and opportunities? Certainly. The pay rates in Sydney are much higher than London, and I guess higher than Dublin too.
What can you do to entice them home? That’s an issue for your Department of Education, but family connections are important to these teachers.
Five days in San Sebastián and Bilbao: Both Basque cities are beautiful but one became my favourite
Irishwoman in El Salvador: I’m 60 and moved halfway around the world. Everything is different
Why has much of Ireland had no sun for 10 days now? The jet stream is to blame
‘Having anxiety was not debilitating.’ Being ashamed of it was
Meanwhile, I have a new role at home – Senior Pronunciation Officer for the local staff: “Steve, how do you say Aoife/Muireann/Caoimheán?” – Yours, etc,
STEVE DOWSE,
Newtown,
New South Wales,
Australia.
