AQW 24275/22-27

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 12/03/2025
Answered On Date: 24/03/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education whether his Department will review teacher retention and recruitment, including workload and pay, as part of the TransformED NI strategy.

Answer:

High-quality teachers are the most important feature of a successful education system and I am determined to make teaching in Northern Ireland an attractive, high-status profession.

As outlined in my Department’s Education Strategy, TransformED, attracting, developing and retaining the best teachers is the greatest challenge that education systems face.

Northern Ireland is extremely fortunate that historically we have recruited high performing school leavers and graduates to teaching. Teaching has been popular amongst our young people and the profession held in high esteem. Yet in recent years there have been increasing challenges with teacher recruitment and retention.

A number of key commitments are, therefore, included in TransformED to address these challenges which will be progressed as a matter of urgency. These include medium and long-term strategic monitoring of teacher supply to anticipate and remediate issues and reviewing how best to attract high-quality graduates to subject shortage areas.