Deputy Horgan received permission to raise on the Adjournment the question of the timetable and method of implementation of the plan for extra remedial teachers.
Adjournment Debate. - Remedial Teachers.
I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for permission to raise this matter on the Adjournment. As the House is well aware the problem of remedial education is a constant one and one in which I know the Minister of State takes a personal interest and it is one in which all teachers, whether remedial teachers or not, also take a special interest. There is more interest in it perforce in some sections of the educational system than in others and this is particularly true at second-level where the vocational system has been statistically shown to have a higher incidence of pupils with remedial needs than the secondary arm of the post-primary system. The need for remedial teachers to cope with this problem and the deployment of remedial teachers to deal with this matter is a perennial political issue as between Members of this House and whoever happens to be Minister for Education and between the teacher unions and the Minister.
Therefore, it was with considerable interest that members of the Irish Vocational Education Association at their recent meeting heard a pronouncement by the Minister for Education on this controversial matter. It is not controversial as between the parties but it is controversial in the sense that everybody is always looking for more money for remedial teachers and no Minister for Education has been able to supply enough of them to meet the demand.
The Minister addressed the Irish Vocational Education Association on Wednesday, 2 May 1979 and his speech was reported the following day in at least three papers that I have been able to trace—The Irish Times, Irish Independent and Cork Examiner. Unfortunately none of the reports gave very much detail about what the Minister proposed to do. Not only did they not give much detail but, as far as I can make out, they did not give any direct quotations from the Minister's address on this issue. I should like to furnish the House with the relevant quotations.
In the Irish Independent of 3 May 1979 John Walshe in Dundalk reported, under the headline “Major boost for remedial and career education”, the following paragraphs:
A major breakthrough for remedial education and career guidance counselling was announced last night by the Minister for Education, Mr. Wilson.
He said that from the next school year remedial teachers will be appointed to vocational and other post-primary schools on an "ex-quota" basis that is, outside the normal allocation of teachers per school.
It is understood that up to 100 remedial teachers to help slow learning pupils will be appointed this year and the number will be added to in the future.
That is the sum total of the Irish Independent's reference to the Minister's statement. In the Cork Examiner of the same date Maurice Gubbins, under the headline “Move means jobs for teachers”, reported:
About 100 new teaching posts will result this year from a decision announced by the Minister for Education, Mr. Wilson, in Dundalk last night. Eventually 400 jobs will be created, it is believed.
Mr. Wilson informed the Irish Vocational Education Association annual conference that the appointment of remedial teachers in vocational and other post-primary schools would be ex-quota from the commencement of the school year 1979-80.
The Minister told the delegates from all over the country that this move was in pursuance of his policy of giving all possible assistance to disadvantaged pupils.
In The Irish Times, Christina Murphy in Dundalk, under the headline “Remedial teachers to be freed from other duties”, noted:
In a major breakthrough in remedial education the Minister for Education, Mr. Wilson, last night announced that remedial teachers in second-level schools would be regarded as "ex-quota" from September next.
The decision will allow remedial teachers to be freed from the normal quota of subject teaching to concentrate exclusively on remedial work.
The move should have a profound effect on remedial education. It will mean about 100 new teaching jobs in the immediate future and could lead to 500 new jobs eventually. Mr. Wilson announced his decision at the annual dinner of The Irish Vocational Education Association in Dundalk.
All of these reports have the merit of consistency and clarity so far as they go. They all indicate that the Minister was going to release remedial teachers from subject teaching. They all indicate that the number of teachers he had in mind to release from subject teaching in the current year was about 100. They all indicate that the total number of teachers to be so released in some unspecified period would be about 500.
However, the reports were considerably short on detail. Since the Minister made his announcement two months ago there has been a growing concern and curiosity among the teaching staffs and the management bodies of all post-primary schools to know precisely how the scheme was going to work. With all due respect to the Minister he is not slow to announce good news when he has it, but we have not been told precisely how many remedial teachers are to be regarded as "ex-quota" in this way. For example, we have not been told whether the remedial teachers who will be regarded as "ex-quota" will be comprised solely of those who are at present teaching and who are undertaking subject teaching as well as their remedial duties or whether the 100 will include whatever intake there is this year from last year's remedial course. Even more importantly, we have not been told how these teachers will be allocated or how the schools will be chosen in which remedial teachers can be regarded as "ex-quota".
I have no information about the number of remedial teachers currently teaching in post-primary schools but I would hope it is more than 100. If that is so and if the Minister is only going to allocate 100 "ex-quota" positions this year and allow the schools concerned to empty 100 new subject teachers to do the work previously done by the remedial teachers, he will have to decide that some schools will have their remedial teachers allowed "ex-quota" and some schools will not be so allowed.
The schools want to know the position. This side of the House want to know the precise number of teachers involved, the precise timetable and the precise arrangements the Minister has in mind for the implementation of the scheme. There is no doubt that when it was announced to the Irish Vocational Education Association—and no more appreciative audience could have been found for that kind of announcement—it was seen as a fairly substantial advance. One hundred post-primary teachers represent a fairly substantial involvement on current account, and however much we may criticise the Minister we would have to give him credit for having provided an extra 100 post-primary teachers, especially if the effect was to put 100 remedial teachers on a "ex-quota" basis.
Now is the time for the Minister to let us know exactly how the scheme stands. If possible, he should tell us what schools can expect this largesse in the autumn and he should tell us when the final decision will be made on details of the implementation of the scheme.
I am sure that Deputy Horgan welcomes the announcement made by the Minister in respect of the appointment of remedial teachers because this is a step that will bring us nearer the stage of genuine equality of opportunity in education, an aspiration about which we have been hearing so much for quite a long time. Deputy Horgan has not indulged in any narrow party approach to this question during his contribution and I should hope that he would accept what has been announced by the Minister as something to which he as spokesman for Labour has been a party. Hopefully, in his approach to the scheme he would apply the benefit of his genuine interest and avoid any attempt at unjustified criticism or at knocking what has been done.
I am sure the Deputy will accept that, in respect of all advances made during the terms of office of successive Ministers, the attitude traditionally has been that there is an expression of a plan or policy prior to the announcement of the precise details of implementation. Bearing in mind that in this case the good news was announced only in May of this year, the Deputy will appreciate why the details have not been available. It is understandable that the Deputy should share with teachers and with school authorities the favourable reaction to the good news and that all concerned are now anxious that the details be announced. However, I regret that I am not in a position to announce the precise details, but perhaps what I have to say will help to better the vision of what will happen in September of the coming school year.
Consideration has been given generally to the circumstances and conditions on which remedial teachers may be appointed in schools under the new scheme. It is my view that if the scheme is to be successful the services of these teachers should be made available for those pupils who are most in need of assistance. There is a general tendency to talk in rather loose terms of remedial education and the steps to be taken in relation to it. But it should not be confused with the existence of the normal varying grades of intelligence or aptitudes among children comparable with the situation that exists among adults and neither should we exclude from our considerations that the normal duties of a teacher requires of him or her that the curriculum be applied and interpreted in a way that will allow those students, who by their very nature are not of equal intellectual ability, to benefit from the presentation of the various exercises. Therefore, one would hope that every teacher would regard himself as in some way a remedial teacher.
It is proposed to issue within the next week or so a circular outlining the conditions of the scheme for the appointment of remedial teachers, teachers who will be in addition to the normal quota of a school. I am sure that here again Deputy Horgan will share with me the joy of our having reached the point where remedial teachers are now ex-quota. It is not my wish to anticipate the issue of the circular concerned but I am happy to give the Deputy the following information.
I must be satisfied that there is a real need for remedial education in any school, a need which could not be met satisfactorily by the prevailing normal means. In general the sanction for an appointment would be related to the availability of a teacher who not only satisfied the appropriate qualification requirements of a post-primary teacher but who also possessed either an acceptable qualification in remedial education or who would be accepted for the Department's course in remedial education for post-primary teachers in the year in question. It may be that in very exceptional circumstances the appointment of a teacher may be approved where this condition in relation to the availability of a teacher with remedial education qualifications was not available.
I would expect that teachers appointed to posts authorised in accordance with the terms of the circular to which I have referred would be required to devote at least 12 to 15 hours per week to remedial education work, work which would involve them with class groups of not more than 16 pupils and which would require of them also to devote attention to individual pupils. I would expect also that the teachers would be available for a period of approximately three hours per week for the purpose of consultation with parents on matters to which the whole operation is pertinent and that, above all, they would be available for normal teaching duties in the school. In brief that is a breakdown of the teacher's work. After fulfilling these duties any teaching hours remaining would be used in teaching general classroom subjects among the normal student population of the schools.
The additional posts would be intended to provide an extra teaching resource for the school as a whole. I would emphasise again the need for all staff members to assume responsibility for weaker pupils. Deputy Horgan knows that those of us who are teachers find it difficult to resist the natural temptation of being attracted to the student who is easiest to manage and who is most receptive to what is being taught. Hopefully, teachers in general would accept the greater challenge there is in helping the weaker students, those students who are not as well endowed as the generality of students.
I have always been loath to make any distinction between what has been classified traditionally as vocational schools and secondary schools. Both schools deal with post-primary students. I hope Deputy Horgan would not contribute to a view which was prevalent some years ago and which put an unwarranted emphasis on academic subjects.
The management authorities of schools seeking approval for such a post will be invited to make an application to the Department on a date to be shortly specified. The application should be accompanied by evidence as to the need for the additional post or posts in the school. Ideally this evidence should take the form of the results of tests carried out in recent years in areas such as language skills. Information should also be provided about the type of test used as well as on the current arrangements for the meeting of the remedial education needs of the school. An indication should also be sought as to the availability of a suitable teacher who might be appointed as a remedial teacher, his or her experience, and a statement of aptitude for the work.
I hope that what I have said will bring Deputy Horgan a little forward in his interpretation of what the Minister said on May 2. There is a need to continue to research and develop this area which brings us nearer to the realisation of the great hope we all aspire, namely, equality of education in all our schools.
Without being contentious could I ask a brief question?
We do not usually allow questions. I will allow one brief question.
On the question of numbers, can the Minister assure me that there will be 100 such ex-quota teachers over and above those who would have entered the in service courses next year in any case?
The Deputy will note that in my statement there is no reference to a specific number. It is expected that a certain number will be provided. I would ask the Deputy to be patient and I will get precise information for him as soon as possible on the exact number.
The Dáil adjourned at 10.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 13 July 1979.