Certain schools and not specifically gaelscoileanna are experiencing some difficulties in the recruitment of fully qualified primary teachers at present. The Government, since taking office, has retained the demographic dividend arising at primary level each year and has also created an unprecedented number of new teaching posts. Some 1,800 new teaching posts have been created which has enabled the Government to reduce the pupil teacher ratio from 22.2:1 in the 1996-97 school year to 19.0:1 in the current school year. The overall pupil teacher ratio is now down to 14:1.
The granting of this enormous number of additional teaching posts, allied to the fact that there are approximately 850 teachers on career break, 250 on secondment and 320 job sharing, has created an excessive demand for teachers in the short-term. The intake of undergraduates to primary teacher training colleges has been doubled from 500 in 1996-97 to 1,000 in the current academic year. The intake to the undergraduate training course for primary teachers will continue at the current level of 1,000 for the 2002-03 and 2003-04 academic years. In addition there are 280 students on an existing postgraduate course. A further postgraduate course with 440 places commenced in February this year.
In addition to increasing the output of graduates, this Government has introduced other initiatives to increase the number of trained personnel. B.Ed graduates of St. Mary's College, Belfast, who have studied Irish to honours level as an academic subject as part of their teaching qualification are now recognised as fully qualified. Since September, 1998, all primary degree holders who hold the higher diploma in education are paid as fully trained substitute teachers and since September 2000, teachers employed in a temporary capacity holding a degree and the higher diploma in education are paid on the trained basic scale for teachers.