Derry secondary schools spent over £10 million on temporary teachers over the last five years

Secondary schools in Derry have spent over £10.2 million on substitute and temporary teachers over the last five years, Derry News can exclusively reveal.

The figures were obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made to each school individually.

Since the school year 2019-20, there has been over £10.2 million spent on staff cover and shortages to substitute or temporary teachers across eight Derry schools, with only Thornhill College and St. Joseph’s Boy School not providing any figures at the time of publication.

Cover for staff can include sick days, Career Development Progression (CPD) courses (teacher training), maternity cover, and temporary staff being contracted in a teaching capacity for an agreed length of time.

The secondary school that has spent the most on substitute and temporary teachers since 2019 and the only one to spend over £2 million was Lisneal College (£2.2 million).

Principle of Lisneal College, Michael Allen, explained why the school spent this figure.

Mr Allen said: “Our enrollment in 2017 was around 596 students, and it is now at 1,200. So the school has doubled in pupil population, so more pupils require more teachers. 

“So, periodically over each year I have to do a Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) application, so I have to apply for teachers either on a permanent or temporary basis, and then the number that I apply for has to balance with the budget, for want of a better word.

“So what you will find is that other schools may have only had two or three appointments a year; I may be making 10 or 12. 

“Our staff numbers have gone from around 40 to 89, so because there is caution around finance, we tend to employ sometimes on a temporary basis, and sometimes if you can’t get the applications you need for jobs, sometimes you have to go out and cover it through substitute cover.

“The reason we have got much higher costs is that we have had to employ more staff annually, much more than any other school, and a lot of it happens on a temporary basis because you are funded year on year.”

Across the five-year period, St. Brigid’s spent just over £1.8 million and St. Columb’s College spent over £1.7 million, placing them second and third highest-spending schools on substitute and temporary staff.

Mr Allen believes it is getting tougher to attract full-time teachers to roles in secondary schools in Derry, particularly for specialist subjects.

He said: “It is getting harder, that is for sure. 

“I remember the days where if you put out an advert for English, Maths, or Science, you could have had 20 odd applications; now you could be looking at five, and maybe three of them don’t meet the criteria you are looking for, so it is getting tougher, much tougher in the specialist subjects.

“I don’t know if Belfast would experience the same difficulties as you have with the bulk of the teaching universities located in and around Belfast.

“Quite a few of our teachers do travel, and you often wonder at times if an opportunity came up closer to their home if they would seriously consider that potential role.”

The only other school to spend over £1 million across this period was St. Mary’s College (£1.5m).

Lumen Christi (£959,664), Oakgrove Integrated College (£911,234), and Foyle College (£602,159) enter the list fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively, for spending on substitute and temporary teachers.

Meanwhile, the secondary school to spend the least amount of money on substitute and temporary staff was St. Cecilia’s College, spending £505,401.

Mr Allen said that one reason why it is getting tougher for schools in Derry to find the required permanent staff is that they are competing worldwide with schools now, with many qualified teachers opting to work in Asia and the Middle East for better financial packages and working in Spain and France for a different lifestyle.

Yet, the principal is still hopeful about the future of teaching in Derry.

He said: “I’m hoping that the pay increase for new teachers, beginning at £30,000, will hopefully entice more people into the career.

“It is a good career that comes with many challenges, like many walks of life, and the public sector is difficult at times because of the financing, but I would still encourage people to seriously consider teaching as a career; if I could turn back the clock, I would still do the same job.”

Regarding the £10.2 million figure being spent by Derry schools on temporary and substitute teachers a Department of Education spokesperson said: “The Department of Education is not the employer of teachers, either permanent or temporary, and is not directly involved in the day-to-day running of schools. Teachers (including supply teachers during the periods they are engaged to work in schools) are employed by the Board of Governors for each school with any human resources and recruitment matters carried out in consultation with the relevant employing authority.”