Teachers at schools in disadvantaged areas rate educational facilities as 'very poor'
A survey of teachers on the benefits and drawbacks of Deis schools — those in receipt of additional funding as a means of counteracting their material disadvantages — found they believe those institutions are seen as 'non-academic' or inferior, a situation which leads to difficulties recruiting teachers due to the perceived associated stigma.
The survey, commissioned by the Teaching Union of Ireland and presented at its annual conference, showed just under a third of teachers in Deis facilities would rate their general school facilities as either poor or very poor, as compared with 24.5% of teachers in non-Deis schools.
Some 10% of respondents in Deis institutions said the standard of facilities in their schools were very poor, compared with just 2.8% of non-Deis educators.
Despite this, workers in Deis schools showed similar levels of job satisfaction to their non-Deis counterparts, and gave more varied responses to such queries, describing their work as both rewarding and challenging.
The survey of 276 teachers and school leaders in secondary schools described the perceived advantages of Deis status, such as increased funding, special food programmes, and student retention supports.
More than 70% of the teachers said Deis as a programme improved opportunities for further education, with 62% of the opinion it increased the chances of students going on to higher education.
In particular the home school community liaison (HSCL) resource was noted as being a "highly valued" resource, which 'fosters relationships between families, schools and communities to support student engagement'.
Some 55% of respondents rated HSCL resources as being either good or excellent, with the noted caveat HSCL teachers risk burnout due to the highly-pressurised nature of their jobs, particularly in large schools.
The survey said on the perceived stigma attached to Deis schools that teachers believe 'these stereotypes harmed students' confidence and work ethic' and 'misunderstandings' of the Deis system deterred some parents from engaging with it.
The survey suggested there was strong support for a tiered, needs-based system seeing greater financial supports afforded to schools experiencing higher levels of disadvantage.
It further suggested student-teacher ratios should be either enforced or re-examined, and the 'burden' of paperwork on teachers in Deis schools should be reduced.
Slightly more Deis teachers, 57%, believed their student-teacher ratios were too high, with the majority of respondents indicating they taught classes with an average of between 20 and 25 students.
The issue of ratios was broached by TUI president David Waters in his speech to the conference. He said 'our class sizes are too large, and teachers' workload is too demanding'.
Education minister Helen McEntee also addressed Deis in her speech to the conference, stating her intention to 'implement a new plan to tackled educational disadvantage' in 2025, with a new Deis plus scheme to be introduced to 'target the most disadvantaged areas and students'.
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