I am delighted to contribute to the debate on the Teaching Council Bill. It is hard to believe that it is only now that we are establishing an independent statutory agency to oversee the standards, policies and procedures for the education and training of teachers while also establishing a professional code of conduct. Such a move, which has been made in full consultation with the partners in education over a two and half year time span and which had been called for in 1991 and again in 1992 in the Green Paper, will benefit all those involved in education whether teachers, pupils or parents. As a former teacher, I fully endorse the principle that teachers should have their professional role recognised in a formal manner by the State. They should have a council that can promote teaching as a profession, establish, review and maintain codes of professional conduct for teachers, establish and maintain a register of teachers, establish and promote standards in programmes of teacher education and training, promote the continuing education, training and professional development of teachers, conduct inquiries where appropriate, impose sanctions in relation to fitness to teach, conduct or commission research, represent the teaching profession on educational issues and provide advice to the Minister. That is no small remit for any group to undertake.
That the majority of the 37 member council will be made up of teachers, teacher training colleges, parents' associations and management bodies, who will be elected by teachers, is a very important starting point. As in any other profession, a professional teaching council will develop a constantly evolving profession. There will be a true ability, through this Bill, for teachers to shape their own future and effectively contribute to education policy. This makes sense given that those who are at the coal face are perhaps the ones with the greatest knowledge and expertise. As the Minister said, this will confirm the status of teachers, entitle teachers to regulate their own affairs and empower teachers giving them greater responsibility for the standards and quality of Irish education.
Similarly, I fully accept that as a profession which has and will continue to have an impact on every young life, there should be a professional code of conduct so that students and parents can be confident that their teachers are well qualified and competent individuals and that there is a clear course of action that can be followed should parents or students feel these standards are not being met.
It goes without saying that teaching is a very highly regarded profession, and rightly so. Our teachers are, in the main, responsible and caring individuals who have the interests of their students to the fore often above and beyond the call of duty. Everyone of us can point to a number of teachers who would have fitted into this category when we were going through the education system. I am delighted to say that through my work in the House, I am continually heartened by the devotion that many teachers display to their students. These people who stand out in our thoughts act above and beyond the call of duty.
Investment in education has been the foundation and cornerstone of the Celtic tiger and our continued growth will depend on how much emphasis we place on our education system. This is a lesson I have learned in my constituency as we now face the consequences of, for example, the collapse of an industry that was a factor that assisted us in achieving a record of having 60% of an adult population who are early school leavers. Now is the time to reinforce the good work already begun in education. This Bill, which links into similar work in the North of Ireland, will not only have a symbolic but a real value throughout the island.
One major problem is that a teacher has, in a sense, no definition – there is no boundary. Sometimes a teacher is a social worker, always a role model, sometimes even a mother or a father, a mentor and obviously an educator. There is no definition, no set criteria, as to where this job starts and ends. Through the Teaching Council teachers need to have a mechanism to promote public awareness of the way in which they work and of the environment in which they work. They need a mechanism to get the message of their achievements across to encourage the profession in general. It seems that so far I have followed two careers that suffer from a serious lack of real mechanisms to get the entire picture across to the public. We need to compare the many opportunities now presented in so many different and alternative employment fields with the new challenges teachers face in their classrooms. Serious efforts in terms of public relations will have to be made to attract people into the profession.
It was suggested yesterday that every social ill leads to a pilot project in a school to cure it. In reality, too often the teacher is almost blamed for every social ill that arises. Teachers are supposed to cure all ills in the hours the school is open. We need to be more understanding of teachers and this message probably needs to be sent by themselves. This council, I trust, will assist in that.
At this point I will deviate slightly and say that while the council may advise, it will still take the Government to react, particularly with resources, to support the role and work of the teacher. The minimum a teacher will require is a decent form of accommodation in which to teach. I take the opportunity to thank the Minister for his recent announcement in regard to the community college in my town of Moville. The Minister has reacted very positively to the education needs in the Inishowen region. In this recent announcement, the Minister's ability to address the situation and adopt criteria to suit what was needed has been very much appreciated. We all look forward to seeing the school up and running in September 2001 and to the physical building being there in 2003.
There is a need for the development of facilities in other existing schools. During the Mini ster's recent visit to the peninsula, he was very much made aware of the need to support facilities in Carndonagh Community School, for extensions to Scoil Mhuire and the fast tracking of repairs and extensions to schools all over the peninsula. Given the moneys that have been injected into the capital programme by this Government, I am confident that all the current needs will be addressed.
I congratulate the Minister and the previous Minister, Deputy Martin, on increasing the number of support staff for schools, including classroom assistants, resource teachers and remedial teachers. I remember coming into the House four and a half years ago to address the issue of remedial teaching with the former Minister, Niamh Bhreathnach. The statistics were appalling at that stage. Whatever statistics looked good, were not realistic.
Teachers know they will have children with special needs in a given year and that they will need a classroom assistant or a resource teacher and inform the inspector of their probable needs very early in the year. It is a bit annoying that at this stage in the year when children are back, particularly those with special needs who are trying to integrate without any support, decisions about classroom assistants and resource teachers are not made. Perhaps teachers do not know of everybody who will enrol, but they have a fair idea. Given that the Minister is moving towards increasing the number of support staff and that this Government has an excellent record in relation to the numbers of support staff available, the delay in appointing them is putting undue pressure on teachers who have to wait that extra few weeks after the school year has started. When the Minister has done the basic work of providing the resource, it is just a matter of timing.
I congratulate all the teachers who are doing a great deal of work with regard to integration. Everybody has made the point that teaching has become totally different in the recent past and many people are working very hard towards integration. The Minister met a group in Inishowen. One can see the excellent work being done. This debate emphasised the negative aspects of teaching and one gets the feeling that all teachers are burnt out and bored with what they are doing. However, that is not the case. There are very motivated teachers, teachers who are interested in their communities who are doing everything they can to advance the situation. We need to continue to get supports to the classroom.
Coming from a music background, I encourage the Minister, as I do at every education committee meeting almost to the boredom of other Members, to examine the area of music therapy and music education in general for the development of slow learners and the general development, co-ordination, language development and rhythmic development of all children. While the council will examine the provision of in-service training, such training should encourage teachers to develop the music component, given that it is not only appropriate for the development of the slow learner or children with other special needs but for the development of all children from a young age.
I look forward to the implementation of a disadvantage programme under the Bill. Many teachers have been put under undue pressure due to the haphazard nature of the implementation of the previous scheme under which schools in towns where many children were disadvantaged were not designated as disadvantaged. I note that my school, Scóil Eoghain in Moville, was not designated as disadvantaged. The boys school in Carndonagh was given that status but not the girls school despite the fact that the children attending both come from the same background. That is the type of issue that puts pressure on teachers. Teachers in schools that are not designated as disadvantaged must deal with children who are disadvantaged and compete with schools designated as disadvantaged, although such status was allocated in a haphazard manner. I appreciate the initiative taken by the Minister in examining the criteria for awarding schools disadvantaged status.
The Teaching Council will advise on the supply of teachers. There is a difficulty in recruiting teachers in Donegal and we will have to look to the EU to recruit teachers. The Minister is aware that such teachers would have a difficulty with the Irish examination requirement. While I do not want to offend Gaelgeóirs, I have talked to people who have an excellent competency in spoken Irish and a good enough competency in written Irish, but they have a difficulty with the Irish examination, particularly that required for primary school teaching, which is more academic than practical. The policy on teaching Irish should be addressed in an honest fashion, given that young people who have spent 13 or 14 years learning Irish in school should be fluent in it, which is not the case, for whatever reason. This policy should be examined not only in the interests of teachers but also in the interests of students.
I welcome the discussion and good comment on cross-Border co-operation in the Bill. Given my location in Ulster, I appreciate the efforts being made in that regard. Given that teachers who have trained in the North may seek teaching posts in the South, we should try to fast track incremental resolutions in that regard.
The supply of teachers is linked to the availability of student grants. I was disappointed to learn from the reply to a parliamentary question I tabled recently that the number of students in receipt of a student grant has decreased from a high of 26,500 to 25,000. I am aware the Minister is examining the question of student grants in terms of the area of disadvantage. Eligibility for such grants should be based on net rather than gross income. If we are to encourage people to train as teachers, we will have to examine the sup ports given to particularly disadvantaged people who do not currently qualify for such grants and the difficulties experienced, particularly in Donegal, in light of the punt-pound differential.
I am uncertain about the difference between the role of the union and that of the Teaching Council, particularly in the case of a dispute. Where does the union stand if a complaint has been made against a teacher and is being dealt with under the dispute process. If there is an overlap between the roles of the two bodies, that area needs to be clarified.
We need a strong definition of what is expected of a teacher, as that will enable us to know what constitutes something that is wrong and that may lead to a teacher being taken off the register or being debarred from teaching.
An investigating committee and a disciplinary committee will deal with complaints. Will the membership of those committees be made up of teachers or will they also include people outside the teaching profession? There are two schools of thought regarding the membership of such committees. For example, many people complain that in the case of Garda complaints procedures the profession investigates itself, while others claim no one knows the profession better that those working in it. I would like the membership of those committees to be clarified.
Under the Bill teachers may be retained on the register subject to conditions or could be removed from it in the case of a serious wrongdoing. There will be a charge for getting on to the register. Will that be a nominal charge? If not, I am sure teachers who pay a union subscription will query what they will get out of being on the register.
Consideration should be given to examining more ways in which teachers, whether they have taught for 10 years, 15 years or longer, can divert from teaching. It is difficult for teachers to spend 40 years in one role and to still have a fresh approach to teaching. Consideration should be given, particularly in terms of in-service training, to enable teachers to have something more than a career break, given that anyone who has worked in the same job continually for 40 years is bound to lose his or her edge. We should support efforts to ensure teachers continue to adopt a fresh approach to their subjects.
I welcome the Bill. It is appropriate to have a code of conduct for teaching. Parents will welcome the fact that when they feel there is something seriously wrong, they can deal with it. I am concerned about the possible overlap of work between the union and the Teaching Council, but I am sure that will be clarified as time passes. I trust the council will be properly resourced to ensure it lives up to the ideals the Minister outlined very well.
