Teaching in NI 23 February 2011 at 11:04PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in N. Ireland 5 replies 882 views

liz-paul

Hi all, my husband is considering a career change in the next couple of years & he is considering teaching. My question is whether or not it would be possible to get a teaching job or if they are few & far between? I know that there is an over supply of primary teachers in NI at the mo, but he would be teaching secondary. Probably physics or maths.
If anyone has any knowledge on this subject I'd be grateful for your thoughts

Golden_Anemone

The school population is falling rapidly and many schools are operating with less than full numbers. In addition the draft budget is going to have a huge impact on staff numbers in schools moving forward. My friend's school has been told that its staffing budget will fall by 12% over the next 4 years and this will mean 12 fewer teachers and 6 fewer ancillary staff.

Having said I believe that physics and maths are subject areas for which it is still difficult to recruit good teachers.

It's a huge gamble - slightly less of a gamble than it would be for say a languages teacher - but a gamble nonetheless. If I were your husband I'd talk to the careers department of the local teacher training colleges - they're likely to be as clued in as anyone.

fredy34

Teaching is a great job, the days fly past. In my opinion the people that complain about teaching are those that havent done another other jobs. Yes teaching is tough for 6 months a year and frequently i have work t take home but the holidays make up for that and i could never go back to a 9-5 with 28 days holiday a year.
As for jobs your out of luck there arent any! AS the obove poster said school budgets are being reduced. We have a couple of teachers retiring and they wont be replaced. Its a tough choice!

SnowyOwl_2

There will always be a need for teachers, unless the birth rate reduces to zero! Even if your husband can't get a full-time permanent job right away he can still take pupils for extra classes outside of school. A teenager I know has extra GCSE coaching at £20 per hour. His teacher has converted his garage to a classroom and has anything up to 20 children at a time giving extra maths lessons for GCSE and A level. Tutoring in preparation for transfer tests is also quite lucrative I hear.

Nobody can tell your husband if he will or will not get a job. However if he does not go through the training and get qualified then he definitely will not. It's up to him to put the work in. Other people manage it, so why not your husband?! Making decisions based on fear is not a good way to approach life.

spendaholiceejit

liz-paul, I have two friends who recently did exactly what your husband is planning. They both have had a complete career change. Unfortunately neither have jobs but one of them is doing really well sub-teaching. The one who is doing better is also able to play the guitar and the schools have snapped her up. She says it is the one thing that keeps her in demand.

I hope your husband does well. It would be a really fulfilling job if it works out for him.

liz-paul

Thanks for your replies so far, some food for thought for us.....