MSashesSA

I'm a South African teacher and I am very keen to move to Ireland for a couple of years to teach. I will qualify in SA at the end of the year (With a PGCE for secondary education, my teaching subjects being English and Guidance). I am a British citizen so visas aren't an issue, but I just want to know if my qualifications are likely to be recognised. I understand there is a shortage of jobs, so I'm not pinning all my hopes and dreams on this, but its its something I'd at like to try. Where would I start looking for jobs? Are there any agencies I can get in touch with from here before I go?

Michel_Paris

You might want to do a search here. Someone in the last month or so asked a similar question.

Alec

First, your SA teaching qualification won't be recognised as equivalent to Irish one without going through verification, assessment and possibly further training and exams. All who wish to teach at state schools in Ireland have to belong to the teachers' professional organisation called The Teaching Council http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/home/default.asp?NCID=1. All Irish-trained teachers in the Republic have a qualification in Irish (Gaelic), though you may be exempt from that if you aren't born in Ireland. Equivalent body in the North is called General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland http://www.gtcni.org.uk/.
Second, there is a severe shortage of teaching jobs in Ireland (both in the North and in the Republic) and it's really tough even for those trained in Ireland. Hence many aspiring teachers train in UK and look for posts on the British mainland.
Third, there may be exchange opportunities with Irish teachers, but you need to be an experienced teacher in your country and currently working in a school.
Fourth, Irish economy is in a very bad state with plunging property prices, many repossessions and rising unemployment. It's not a good time to move to Ireland, for teaching or not.

So your only chance is to try supply (substitute) teaching in Ireland, though jobs are few and far between and it's quite difficult to make steady income to be self-sufficient. There are supply agencies, but they tend to have a full book of teachers and may not be keen to take on someone with no Irish experience.