I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft:
Employment Equality Act, 1998 (section 12) (Church of Ireland College of Education) Order, 2000,
copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 27 June 2000.
Employment Equality Act, 1998 (section 12) (Church of Ireland College of Education) Order, 2000: Motion.
The debate will conclude after 30 minutes and the contributions of the Minister and the main spokespersons for the Fine Gael and Labour parties shall not exceed ten minutes.
The purpose of this order is to reserve 32 places in the first year of the bachelor of education course in the Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines, for students who are members of the Church of Ireland or who belong to the broad Protestant tradition. The making of the order and its laying before the Houses arises from the provisions of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, and to ensure that the rights and interests of the college, schools with a Protestant ethos and the students in those schools are provided for.
The Employment Equality Act, 1998, prohibits discrimination on a wide range of grounds, including religion. While the Act deals primarily with discrimination in employment, it also extends to discrimination in vocational training. Vocational training is defined as any system of instruction which enables a person to acquire the knowledge for the carrying on of an occupational activity. Teacher training falls within this definition.
For many years, probably since its foundation, the Church of Ireland College of Education has provided training in primary school teaching only to students who come from the Church of Ireland and the broader Protestant tradition. The purpose of this practice is to ensure that there is available to schools under Protestant ownership a sufficient number of teachers who themselves come from a Protestant background and are trained in an institution with a Protestant ethos.
Most primary schools in the State are privately owned, publicly-funded denominational schools. This system of denominational education is underpinned by the Constitution. Collateral to the right of the religious denominations to conduct schools with a particular ethos is their right to ensure that they have available to them a corps of staff belonging to and trained in the particular religious denomination of the school. If such staff were not available, the constitutional rights to free profession of religion and the conduct of denominational schools would be seriously impaired. To avoid imposing what would, in effect, be unconstitutional restrictions on the rights of the denominations in this regard, section 12 of the Employment Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination in vocational training, makes two exceptions. It provides that for the purpose of ensuring the availability of nurses to hospitals and teachers to primary schools which are denominational in character and in order to maintain the religious ethos of the hospitals and the schools, the prohibition of discrimination does not apply in certain circumstances.
In the case of primary schools, the section provides that an educational or training body may apply to the Minister for Education and Science for an order permitting the body to reserve places in the vocational training course. The Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, may then make an order allowing the body to reserve such number of places to meet the needs for teachers in primary schools as is considered appropriate.
The Church of Ireland College of Education has made an application on behalf of the college for the reservation of 32 places in the college for the academic years 2000-01, 2001-20 and 2002-03 for students who are members of recognised churches in the Protestant tradition, essentially in this instance, the Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church. The college makes the case that the reservation of 32 places, which is at present the full complement of first year places in the college, should be made to provide sufficient teachers to Protestant schools over the next few years.
The grounds for the request as put by the college are as follows: recent initiatives of the Minister for Education and Science, including the allocation of an additional teacher to one teacher schools, the lowering of the pupil-teacher ratio and the development of remedial education, have placed additional staffing requirements on the schools; anticipated demand in the schools indicates that it outstrips supply from the college; some of those who enter the college will not complete their studies and, of those who qualify, some will not take up posts in schools with a Protestant ethos or may not teach at all; the career break and early retirement schemes reduce the number of teachers available to schools and in addition there is some evidence of a greater number of teachers resigning from teaching in recent years than in the past; and in the last school year a survey of schools indicated that 43 posts would become available during or at the end of that school year and in 1998 55% of all schools reported that they had encountered considerable difficulty in securing qualified teachers to undertake substitute teaching.
The Minister for Education and Science believes that, in the circumstances set out by the college, the reservation of 32 places in the college for students from the Protestant tradition appears reasonable in order to ensure that Protestant schools have available to them a sufficient number of teachers who share their value system and religious beliefs.
It is proposed that the order now to be made will continue in force for the next three academic years. The Minister is satisfied that it is unlikely that within that period circumstances will materially change either for the college or the schools which it serves. In the third year of the order, it is proposed that the situation will be reviewed again and this House will then be given a further opportunity to consider the matter.
Apart from the constitutional requirements from which this order flows, the order is a necessary support to the maintenance of diversity of values, beliefs and culture in our education system and in Irish society. Given that schools with a Protestant ethos represent only a small minority of primary schools in the State, there is clearly a risk that that ethos could be greatly diluted unless specific protections are provided. This order puts in place a protection which the Oireachtas considered appropriate and which will guarantee Protestant schools that they can continue to provide education for their students in accordance with their particular values and beliefs.
I welcome this motion. Many Protestant schools are currently experiencing extreme difficulty in recruiting staff. Recently Mr. John McCullough of the Church of Ireland Board of Education attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Education and Science and the figures he revealed were even worse than those cited by the Minister. He stated that 66% of Church of Ireland schools found that substitutes were rarely available while only 4% of schools found favourable levels of substitute teacher availability. Serious problems are experienced in recruiting staff in unattractive areas such as remote rural areas or in encouraging people to continue teaching in those areas.
Unless an adequate supply of teachers is available from the college, there is no doubt that the Church of Ireland Board of Education's ability to continue to provide denominational education would be seriously undermined. The Minister correctly pointed out that the Protestant education tradition is a very valued part of the Irish education tradition and it is important that the State would make every effort to support its continuance.
There is perhaps a need to consider some of the other issues which affect smaller schools, particularly those of a Church of Ireland or Protestant denomination. The fact that resource and supply teaching duties cannot be combined in one post to create a permanent position in the school causes problems for Protestant schools that are small in size. It is more important that they can offer permanent positions than it is for mainstream Roman Catholic schools because there are so many options. If Protestant schools are to have attractive positions they must be able to create posts that have permanent and full recognition. There is need for the Minister to look at that area and also at colleges of education and the supply of appropriate in-service training for all schools.
It is unacceptable that there is not ongoing in-service training in Ireland provided for remedial teachers. This is an area that evolves rapidly and it is crucial that people are up to date. Adequate training is not provided for teachers to cope with children with special needs who often present in such a way that teachers do not recognise their difficulties in time. That, allied to the difficulties in getting assessments creates real problems. We need to invest much more in teacher in-service training so that they will be equipped to deal with children who present with challenges that are outside the ordinary.
I have often said to the Minister that it is ridiculous that we spend 1% of teachers' payroll on in-service development particularly as the financial services sector, we read recently, spent 5.5% of payroll on in-service development for its staff. We do not invest in updating the skills of those who are the fountainhead of knowledge and learning in our community. It is unacceptable at a time when we have resources. We know from our neighbouring island that the status and standing of the teaching profession can go into decline quite quickly if we do not nurture and support it. I welcome this order.
I wish to share my time with Deputy Sargent. I am speaking on this order as a kind of past pupil of the Church of Ireland college in Rathmines because I did my teacher training under a special scheme called the Wilson Scheme in the late seventies. It was mainly centred in the College of Education in Marino but part of it was in Rathmines so I am familiar with the college but not as much as Deputy Sargent who is a past pupil.
The Labour Party has no difficulty with this order. We welcome it and fully accept the need to protect the Protestant ethos of our schools. We also fully accept the serious difficulties encountered by Protestant schools in recruiting staff of their own religion. That matter must be dealt with and we support the order for that reason. We have no difficulty with the fact that 32 places are being reserved but why is the figure so low?
The Minister outlined the many problems which various Protestant schools have in maintaining and recruiting staff. Why was a greater effort not made to increase the intake? The figure of 32 places is exceptionally low and must be viewed in the context of the serious shortage of teachers generally. I would have thought the College of Education, Rathmines, would have a far greater capacity – I do not know what the maximum recorded capacity has been. Presumably there is unused capacity in the college and potential for increasing it. I wonder why that has not happened. I was quite shocked to see that the intake was only 32 places.
Another area in need of attention is providing non-Catholic teacher training options for those who wish to enter teaching, especially when we view what is happening in the educational system and the growth of the multi-denominational sector. It is a vibrant sector but like many other primary schools it is experiencing great difficulty in recruiting qualified staff. I would have thought there would have been a big demand for places.
If one looks at the chief executive officer applications, one will see that the teacher training colleges are heavily over-subscribed. It does not make sense that we are restricting the intake into one of the teacher training colleges. The Minister should address that issue.
We are conscious of the very serious lack of supply of teachers and the fact that so many children are being taught by unqualified staff across different and no religions. That is a serious issue and we must recognise the difficulties the schools encounter. Many children are being short-changed as a result of lack of planning in this area.
The Labour Party agrees with the order but regrets that the Minister is not pro-active in making more trained teachers available.
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta Shortall as a cuid ama ar an ábhar seo a roinnt liom. Mar iarscoláire Choláiste Oideachais Eaglais na hÉireann agus mar urlabhraí oideachais anseo tá áthas faoi leith orm seans a fháil cúpla focal a rá ar an ábhar. Tá an Coláiste i ndáilcheantar mo chomhleacaí John Gormley agus bíonn sé faoi chaibidil againn go minic.
Tugann an díospóireacht seo seans domsa mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an bhfoireann a bhí agus atá fós ann, go mór mhór an iarphríomh oide, Dr. Kenneth Milne, Gladys Allen nach maireann, Fiachra Ó Dufaigh nach maireann agus leis an bhfoireann eile. Tá mé fíor-bhuíoch dóibh as an méid oibre a rinne siad ann. Guím gach rath freisin ar an bpríomhoide atá ann faoi láthair, Dr. Sidney Blain agus ar an bhfoireann iomlán
Is cúis díomá dom áfach go bhfuil deireadh le Coláiste Móibhí agus ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Uas. Risteard Giltrap as an obair a rinne seisean sa choláiste a bhí in aice linn anseo i bPlás Chill Dara ar feadh na mblianta chomh maith leis an gColáiste Ullmhúcháin.
I welcome this order. As a former student I know how important it is to the Church of Ireland College of Education. It is extremely important for the future of the schools under Church of Ireland management and the management of other Protestant denominations as well. As Deputy Shortall and Deputy Bruton have said, there is an enormous shortage of teachers which particularly affects the Church of Ireland community as it is drawing from a much smaller pool of people.
It should not be overlooked that the order sends a very clear and welcome message to those working for reconciliation that minorities are cherished and are not caught in the rush to reform and change but are taken into account so they may feel as citizens with the same equality of opportunity. The equality of minorities must be dealt in a way that respects their sensitivities particularly when there is such a big majority and a small minority.
In this college it would be possible in a less sympathetic State to feel under siege given that the numbers are so low. As Deputy Shortall said, 32 places seems small in terms of the overall context but I know from experience that number fills the classrooms. We would need to have a big increase to make it a two stream system for the B.Ed. degree. While that needs to be done there must be a certain amount of preparation and degree of intent. There is a great need, as Deputy Bruton said, for more in-service training in the schools given the speed of change in education. I compliment the college which, under Dr. Dunbar, has done outstanding work in the area of children's literature which has gained national and international fame. There is no doubt in-service training is outstanding in those areas, but the Department has a particular responsibility to counteract the effects of its own removal of teachers from the system for curriculum development. There are now so many teachers on secondment that schools are being placed in an extremely invidious position and find it difficult to get substitute teachers, though it is all in the name of developing the curriculum. The Department does not appear to be able to facilitate schools in maintaining permanent positions and keeping teachers in what are termed supernumerary positions so they can perhaps be replaced by a permanent teacher or some other arrangement. This will have to be worked out as the Department is part of the problem and it should be part of the solution.
Tá fhios agam nach bhfuil mórán am agam, but given that the Garvaghy Road and other marches are on everyone's minds at this time of year, an order of this kind is seen as a strong signal of respect for minorities and is very welcome. In my town of Balbriggan, St. George's Church of Ireland school was in danger of closure and amalgamation with a Church of Ireland school in Skerries, but the Roman Catholic community was the key factor in wanting to keep that school open so that diversity could be maintained in Balbriggan. That should be mentioned so that our Northern colleagues, or brethren as they say in the Protestant faith, are conscious that diversity is cherished and minorities respected in this part of the island.
Question put and agreed to.