Olwyn Enright
Question:239 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the way in which he intends to increase the supply of qualified primary teachers to the primary school system. [19241/02]
Vol. 555 No. 5
239 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Education and Science the way in which he intends to increase the supply of qualified primary teachers to the primary school system. [19241/02]
A number of initiatives have been undertaken by my Department in recent years to boost substantially the supply of trained primary teachers and alleviate the current supply difficulties.
As part of a range of initiatives to improve teacher supply, the intake to the B.Ed. programme in the colleges of education has been increased dramatically in recent years. Since 1999 over 1,000 students have been admitted annually to the B.Ed. programme. This represents a doubling of the number admitted to the programme in 1996. The total intake to the colleges of education in the 2001-02 academic year was increased to a record 1,461. This compares with an intake of 500 in 1996-97. There are currently some 3,460 students enrolled and pursuing various stages of primary teacher training programmes in the colleges of education. Discussions with the colleges of education regarding a further post graduate course due to commence in early 2003 are currently taking place.