A Fermanagh union rep and former teacher has claimed Northern Ireland is “educating teachers for export”, with the crisis in schools driving educators to seek better paid jobs.

Marie O’Shea, assistant Northern Secretary of INTO, took the platform on Thursday last to tell of the dire position within local schools that has seen teachers take to the picket lines over pay and staffing.

Marie, a former teacher of more than 20 years, spoke on behalf of teaching unions, which, she said were “united in solidarity” for “the first time in a long, long time”.

The local INTO rep was among those who recently attended a delegation at the gates of Hillsborough Castle when parties met for bilateral talks with NI Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris.

“I shouted ‘shame’,” Marie recounted. “Very loudly, might I add, with my teacher voice!

‘Shameful’

“It’s shameful that politicians think they can hold this issue over our heads. We are held in the background while doing all the work that society needs done, while we wait for a party to make a decision to move things forward.

“Forget about a trade border. They are creating a pay border for us all!”

Referencing the “crisis” in education that is being felt both in Fermanagh and across Northern Ireland, Marie spoke of how many teachers are turning away from the profession over pay. Some are going ‘across the water’, she said, while others are going across the globe to places like Dubai.

“Teaching is no longer a profession that people want to move toward,” she said. “Teachers are starting to see what’s available to them elsewhere.

“We have a shortage of teachers for science subjects because they can get better employment in industry. We can only maintain the fantastic standard of education in Northern Ireland if we recruit staff here, and keep them here.

“All we are doing is educating our best and brightest for export. Our teachers are going to Dubai and Qatar.

“They are getting ferries to Scotland. They are teaching across the border. Why? Because the pay is better.

“We cannot sustain this, and education cannot sustain this. If we don’t invest in teachers, we don’t invest in education, and we don’t invest in the future.”

‘Crisis in our schools’

Marie added: “We as school leaders and teachers see the crisis in our schools every day. From a lack of services to a lack of availability of staff to come in and replace our teachers when off sick and away. This cannot go on.”

Marie was keen to reiterate support for members of unions representing classroom assistants, SEN workers, and other vital roles.

“We can’t make our schools work without you,” she said. “We are shouting for you as much as we are shouting for ourselves.

“We are fighting today for a better future for all.”

Concluding her powerful address, Marie took aim at the DUP, which she accused of “playing Tug of War with lives”.

“It’s time the DUP stopped playing Tug of War with us, the lives of young people that we work with, and for families we support.

“Sort this mess out, get back to work, and get something done!”