Vol. 577 No. 3
53 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps being taken to reduce the dependence on untrained teachers employed in primary schools, as there were more than 152,000 teaching days undertaken by such teachers in the 2002-03 school year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30930/03]
Unqualified teachers should only be employed in primary schools in exceptional circumstances and when all avenues for recruiting qualified personnel have been exhausted. The primary sector has experienced a shortage of trained teachers in recent years, mainly as a result of the large number of posts created to reduce class sizes, to cater for pupils in disadvantaged areas and to provide for those with special educational needs and the reduction in teacher training places in the mid-1990s. The difficulties being experienced are aggravated by the number of teachers availing of career break and jobsharing schemes.
My Department introduced a range of measures to address the current shortage of qualified teachers. It is also examining further options for addressing the teacher supply issue in consultation with relevant interests.
The measures introduced include doubling the number of students admitted annually to the BEd programme in the colleges of education; providing postgraduate courses each year; recognising BEd graduates of St. Mary's College, Belfast, who have studied Irish to honours level as an academic subject as part of their teaching qualifications, as fully qualified; recognising Montessori trained teachers, who have successfully completed the full-time course of three years duration at St. Nicholas, Dún Laoghaire, which is recognised by HETAC, or the Montessori qualification that is awarded on completion of the three year course in the AMI College, as being fully qualified substitute teachers and to teach in certain categories of special schools, special classes and as resource teachers in primary schools; recognising fully qualified teachers who trained outside the State to teach in certain categories of school and classes without the necessity to hold the Irish language qualification; and my recent decision to recognise graduates of a new primary teacher training course, accredited by HETAC and being delivered by Hibernia College, for the purposes of primary teaching.
I am committed to ensuring that the existing shortage of qualified teachers will be eliminated within the next two to three years. My Department will continue to consider new initiatives and keep existing initiatives under review.
