35% of student teachers experiencing serious financial difficulties

Tuesday, 6 July 2021 16:34

That's one of the results of a new study of 391 student teachers taking part in post graduate masters programmes at 7 Higher Education Institutions.

The study found that while students are being paid €119 a week, they were spending over €423 a week on course fees, accommodation and day to day expenses.

Students also reported working up to 35 hours a week outside the classroom in order to cover their expenses.

Mark Prendergast from the School of Education at UCC is one of the authors of the report.

He told RedFM News that the extra work had adverse affects on many people:

"The data showed us that 44% of student teachers considered dropping out due to this stress. As one student teacher noted in the study, they are spending all the money they have in the world. There's numerous examples in the data of the adverse effects that those difficulties are having on number one, their academic performance, because of the extra hours that are undertaken outside of college, that they're teaching and college work wasn't getting the attention it deserved. And also then the knock on effect on their mental health outcomes- there was anxiety around how to pay for certain bills, lost sleep, etc."

35% of student teachers experiencing serious financial difficulties

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