Education in Crisis: The Growing Costs of Education in Ireland

According to a 2024 report from the Central Statistics Office, 95% of 20- 24-year-olds in Ireland have obtained at least a higher secondary level of education, ranking us joint second in the EU-27, behind Croatia. In comparison to the rest of Europe and the wider world in general, the Irish education system is among the most stellar and accessible to the masses. In recent years, however, the number of students participating, to some level, in private education has risen, and the fees for becoming an educator have skyrocketed. 

The cost of attaining a Primary Master’s of Education (PME) has steadily increased since it replaced the year-long Higher Diploma (HDip). This change occurred in 2014 and was primarily done to ensure higher teaching standards. The two-year degree now costs between €7,600 and €7,770 per year, totalling over €15,000. According to a 2019 article from the Irish Times, the HDip saw around 1,200 graduates per year, which significantly dropped to 800 from the PME. These figures do not account for the additional costs of applying to the master’s programme and the compulsory student levy, easily pushing the figure over the €15,500 mark.

These higher costs are not sustainable for most students, especially given that the compulsory work placement within the PME is unpaid. Various colleges operate differently around work placement, with some even requiring placement and classes on the same day, while others operate between windows of classes and placement on different days or weeks. Many students within the PME, who are in college full-time along with being on placement, will still have to work a job in order to pay for fees and day-to-day life. This does not even account for the assignments and exams students must complete.

The average pay for a teacher in Ireland, according to Jobted, is €56,736 per year, with a starting salary of approximately €41,000. With the cost of training being so high for such a low starting salary, fewer people are looking to become full-time educators. This does not even mention the lack of job security many new graduates are facing in the profession. According to a Teachers Union of Ireland report, only 35% of graduates entering the position over the past decade are obtaining permanent, paid positions upon starting. Adding this to the growing housing crisis, new graduates are less likely to be able to move for a job in education on such a low starting salary, and without the guarantee of a permanent position. 

The ATSI has been tracking the level of unfilled positions in post-primary education in recent years. In Spring 2025, the ATSI surveyed a multitude of school leaders, with 67% reporting unfilled positions across their schools. They have attributed this to a lack of action from the Irish government and the changes in teaching qualifications and placements in recent years. All of this has done nothing but grow what they refer to as a “chronic teacher shortage in Ireland”.  

The Irish government does have programmes that aim to help both new and seasoned educators. The PME Refund Scheme allows new graduates to reclaim €2000 of what they had spent on their degree, provided they graduate, become registered, and work a minimum number of hours in a school setting. Yet, with jobs being sparse and the inability to relocate for work, meeting that last criterion may be a difficult task for some recent graduates, whether they live in the bustling city of Dublin or smaller, rural towns.

There are now over 40 subjects a student can choose from for their Leaving Cert studies, the most recently added being Drama, Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development. As these subjects grow, educators are required to have increasingly advanced qualifications to implement these classes in their schools. 

As a result, many schools do not have full access to what the Leaving Cert has to offer. This leaves students behind who may wish to go into similar courses at university, as they will lack the same level of knowledge as fellow students coming from schools with these courses. This also affects educators; schools may not be able to take on teachers who wish to specialise in these subjects, as this is up to the individual school’s management as to whether they want the curriculum implemented. Those already working within schools who wish to teach these new subjects would either need to already meet the required subject knowledge, as to update their Teaching Council registration, or take new courses, spending more money, to obtain qualifications in these fields.

While Ireland does have immediate access to free second-level education, many individuals pay exorbitant fees for private education. According to Irish Links, there are approximately 50 private schools in the Republic that educate around 26,000 students. This brings in an estimated €110,000,000 in revenue per year collectively. Most of these institutions are in Dublin, with the average fees in 2025 ranging anywhere from €3900 to over €10,770 a year.

These figures do not account for those partaking in “Shadow Education”, as there are many who partake in after-school grinds. A 2024 report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) claims that over 55% of students in the country, both in private and public education, now pay, in some way, a private tuition fee. This is now considered the norm for many parents and students, yet many families who cannot afford this extra help and personal attention may fall behind their peers.

With the creeping costs of education and the requirements to become an educator growing higher and higher each year, it is becoming clearer that the education system of Ireland has major faults that the government is neglecting, whilst simultaneously deeply affecting, due to their lacklustre actions.