Vol. 229 No. 13
asked the Minister for Education if he will take immediate steps for the year 1967-68 to have recognised, for salary and incremental purposes, teachers of speech training who possess the qualification of licentiate in teaching this subject from a school or college of already recognised standards.
21.
asked the Minister for Education if he will consider having recognised by his Department speech and drama teachers with licentiates from any recognised or accepted college, in the same way as physical training instructors and domestic science teachers are recognised.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 21 together.
A diploma from a recognised college of speech training or drama may be accepted for the purpose of recognition in the case of a teacher of the relevant subject in a vocational school.
For registration as a secondary teacher and subsequently for recognition for incremental salary purposes a teacher must possess a qualification which is acceptable to the Secondary Teachers Registration Council.
This Council is a statutory body set up under the Intermediate Education Act, 1914. A diploma in speech or drama is not amongst the qualifications accepted by the Council.
Would not a licentiate from a recognised school be accepted? Does the Minister not regard this as important enough in view of the importance, in its turn, of speech training? By speech training, the Minister will realise I do not mean elocution. I do not mean the superimposition of an accent. This is an extremely important matter in our schools. People with qualifications such as licentiates of recognised schools of speech-training in the main have to emigrate and does the Minister not agree that it would be a very good thing to keep them here not alone for the purpose of keeping them but also for the purpose of having our children well trained in speech?
I agree in the main with what the Deputy says, but in the case of art, domestic science and physical education where a university qualification is not available, the Registration Council has agreed to accept on certain conditions a non-university recognised qualification in these subjects for the purpose of registration. There is every merit in the point made by the Deputy, I agree, but this Registration Council exists: it is a statutory body and as such my powers are limited. So far as I can make certain proposals which I think deserve consideration, I am prepared to do so, but the acceptance of any qualification is a matter for this Secondary Teachers Registration Council which is comprised of representatives of recognised secondary school associations, the universities and the Department. In order that the question of the acceptance of qualifications in speech training might be considered, it would be necessary that application be made to the Registration Council. Such application should be made to the secretary of the Council and should be accompanied by full information in regard to the course leading to the qualification. The information should include a syllabus of the course, duration of the course, entrance requirements and examinations passed. I might also say that speech training and drama are not subjects of the secondary school curriculum but they are accepted as part of the subjects, English or Irish as the case may be. Teachers of these part subjects could not obviously have the same standing as qualified teachers of the complete subjects, Irish or English, or of the subjects, domestic science, art, music or physical education which I mentioned earlier.
While I appreciate the Minister's helpful attitude in this matter, I urge him to exhort his Department not to regard speech training and drama as part of a subject. Speech training is something that affects every subject and if the Minister would be good enough to make recommendations to the Registration Council, the people on whose behalf I asked the question and for whom I speak will be very grateful. I want to assure the Minister that they are extremely anxious that a decent standard be set up and that licentiates be recognised and that some people holding diplomas from non-recognised places be not recognised. Will the Minister assure me that he will make the recommendation and I shall get these people to send in the special application as he has recommended here?
I shall certainly interest myself further in this but I may tell the Deputy that I have received representations on the same lines from individual teachers of speech over the past few months. I agree that there is a tremendous amount of validity in the points made by them. All I can say is that I shall do what I can to ensure that speech training is given a more important role in future on our curriculum than has been the case hitherto.
Since it is obvious from the Minister's reply that he personally is in favour of what is required in the two questions put down by Deputy Lindsay and myself and since the Registration Council seem to have a big part to play in granting what is required, could the Minister use his undoubted influence with the Registration Council to meet the situation as required, more especially since the vocational schools have this?
Is the Minister aware that the Montessori system, which I believe has a very categoric syllabus and diploma system, is not recognised presumably by the Council to which he referred and would he take steps to give Montessori the same standing as the Froebel system which, I understand, is recognised?
Speaking offhand, I think the Montessori system is recognised by my Department but only when it is utilised for the teaching of mentally handicapped children in national schools, generally speaking, not across the board.
Why?
This is a matter which has occupied the minds of educationists and I am advised—I do not know whether the advice is sound or not—that the Montessori method is of tremendous use for the mentally handicapped but in other spheres is not effective to the same extent.
Perhaps the Minister will look into this matter further?
I have looked into the matter on several occasions and I am not altogether satisfied as to whether the advice given me is right or not.
