A SUPPORT network for Irish teachers in Britain has been launched as hundreds of newly qualified educators face the prospect of having to come here to find work.
The Irish Teachers in Britain Network was set up last week in response to a study of those who are already working in British classrooms.
The research, inspired by reports in The Irish Post about the vast number of teachers coming here every year, found that a lack of opportunity at home was the main driving factor behind their emigration.
Some 68 per cent of the 114 teachers polled in an online survey said they came to Britain to find employment.
Professor Louise Ryan, who carried out the research for Middlesex University’s Social Policy Research Centre, recommended the creation of a network for Irish teachers working in Britain modelled on similar groups for lawyers, construction workers and business people.
She told The Irish Post that many of the people she interviewed wanted a forum where they could voice grievances about the intensive inspection regime of Ofsted, Britain’s school regulator.
“The teachers I spoke to wanted someone to talk about the shock of the new system and the shock of Ofsted and how they were unprepared for that,” Prof Ryan explained.
“They also thought they could use the network to provide information for people who were thinking about coming over about what teaching is like over here.”
A spokesperson for the Irish Teachers in Britain Network said it is hoping to host its first meeting and elect a committee and chair by the end of the month.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/irishteachersnetwork
