Sharp pay increases are needed for Leaving Cert examiners to avert a “crisis” in the supply of qualified teachers to correct exams, a teacher’s union has warned. The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) said there are acute difficulties recruiting teachers for next month’s oral exams and the written exams in June. Pay rates are one factor, it said, while some schools are reluctant to release teachers to work as examiners due to a shortage of substitutes. It said Leaving Certificate oral tests, along with Leaving and Junior Cert music tests, will all be completed within the scheduled fortnight following the Easter holidays. “This situation has arisen due to a small shortfall in the number of available examiners for the scheduled fortnight,” it said.

Source: The Irish Times March 27, 2018 17:07 UTC