Education Occupations

Key points for selected education occupations

• There were approximately 116,000 persons employed in the selected education occupations, representing 6.4% of the national workforce
• Just over 80% of overall employment was at professional level (mostly for primary/nursery and secondary teachers)
• Employment in education occupations increased by 1.3% on average annually between 2007 and 2011 (in contrast to a decline of 3.9% in the national average); with the exception of secondary teachers and teaching and other educational professionals, employment in all occupations contracted modestly between 2007 and 2011; employment of secondary teachers and other educational professionals grew by 3.8% and 6.9% on average annually during that period
• Between 2007 and 2011, a net 6,000 additional jobs were created; the largest number of jobs was created for secondary teachers
• At least four fifths of the workforce of all educational professionals held third level qualifications; at just over two fifths, the workforce of educational support assistants had the lowest share of third level graduates
• With just under 10% aged 15-24, the workforce of primary/nursery teachers was the youngest among the selected education occupations; in contrast, approximately one quarter of the overall workforce of both vocational and industrial trainers/instructors and educational support assistants was aged 55 and over
• Approximately 14% of the workforce of higher and further education teaching professionals was composed of non-Irish nationals ― exceeding the national average share of 10% for professional occupations
• Approximately three quarters of the overall workforce of education occupations was female; in contrast, 56% of the workforce of higher and further education teaching professionals was male

Shortage Indicators

There is no evidence of shortages of education and training professionals. Employment opportunities in the public education sector remain limited due to the moratorium on employment in the public sector.
The demand for teaching skills is expected to be driven by

• demographic changes (e.g. an increase in the number of school-going children)
• the requirements to improve numeracy (e.g. the need for qualified maths teachers, particularly at second level)
• high levels of unemployment and the need to up-skill or re-skill large numbers of persons
• a sustained high number of entrants to third level education.