Time is running out to fix the teacher recruitment crisis ahead of the new school year, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation has said. 

Schools across the country are struggling to recruit the staff they need and those in Dublin are particularly affected with many teachers leaving the capital due to the high cost of housing. 

The INTO is due to hold its annual conference next week and plans to place the issue at the top of the agenda. 

Last month, Education Minister Norma Foley announced funding for an additional 610 places on teacher training courses but the INTO says this will have no impact on recruitment this year. 

Main image shows teenage students in a classroom.

“You can’t make a teacher overnight,” Deputy Secretary General Deirdre O’Connor said. 

“The teacher education places that she has announced of 600 won’t come into play until at least two years’ time when those people finish their postgraduate masters in education. 

“There are a number of short-term measures that have been taken this year; for example, allowing teachers who are on career break to carry out substitute work and those who are job sharing to do the same - she hasn’t confirmed those for next year.” 

The Labour Party has suggested that recruitment would be helped by a Dublin weighting allowance for teachers in the capital - an idea that has encountered some resistance in the profession. 

Main image: Teacher in a classroom.