Irish teachers who are underperforming in their roles may be subjected to sanctions, under new guidelines.
An official watchdog has been assigned powers to deal with cases of underperforming or misconduct in the education system.
Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn said the new powers would put teaching on a par with other regulated professions in the country.
Minister Quinn said: “The vast majority of teachers in our classrooms perform well,” but added that “for the small minority who do not, I believe that the Teaching Council will now have at its disposal the right tools to deal with cases of serious misconduct and to improve and assist poorly performing teachers.”
The planned law changes will allow the teaching watchdog to impose sanctions even if a teacher is not deemed “unfit to teach”.
Under the new guidelines the Teaching Council will also be allowed to investigate allegations from parents of misconduct and underperformance in schools.
