Unfortunately, I have that pleasure. The Chairman has introduced the members of the delegation to the committee.
I will go through the issues in our presentation. The first issue is that of primary teacher supply and demand. A number of factors affect the demand for primary teachers. These include application of the agreed staffing schedule, demographic trends, the number of teachers opting to take career breaks, the number of secondments approved and the age at which teachers opt to retire on a voluntary basis. The creation of additional posts in a particular school year and the retention of posts arising from the allocation of the demographic dividend also affect the demand for teachers.
The Department reviews the enrolment projections for schools and the factors affecting the demand for teaching posts on a regular basis with a view to ensuring as far as possible, within resource constraints, that the supply of teachers available meets the demand.
Members of the committee are probably aware that during the 1980s there was a perceived over-supply of trained primary teachers and this led to a reduction in the number of places available for persons wishing to train as primary teachers. From 1989 to 1992, inclusive, the total approved annual intake to the colleges of education was 275. Since 1993, the approved intake has increased each year due to the need for additional trained teachers and the number of undergraduate intake places stands today at 1,000 per year, which is double the number of places available in 1996-97. There are also currently 280 students on the postgraduate course in the colleges of education.
A number of initiatives to improve teacher supply have been taken by the Department in recent years to boost substantially the supply of trained primary teachers and alleviate the current supply difficulties. One of these was the introduction of the graduate diploma, a full-time course run in the colleges of education to enable third level graduates to train as primary teachers. This 18 month full-time course was first provided in the 1995-96 academic year and it has been repeated on a number of occasions since then. The most recent course commenced in February of this year.
In addition, the intake to the Bachelor of Education course has been increased dramatically in recent years. Since 1999, some 1,000 students have been admitted annually to the programme — this represents a doubling of the number admitted in 1996. Members of the committee will note the table in the document sets out intakes to the various courses from the 1995-96 academic year to date.
Other initiatives to increase the number of trained personnel have also been introduced. Bachelor of Education graduates of St. Mary's College, Belfast who have studied Irish to honours levels as an academic subject as part of their teaching qualifications are recognised as fully qualified teachers. Since September 1998, all primary degree holders who hold the Higher Diploma in Education are paid as fully trained substitute teachers. Since September 2000, teachers employed in a temporary capacity holding a degree and the Higher Diploma in Education are paid on the trained basic scale for teachers.
Teachers trained in EU member states employed in primary schools are now remunerated at the trained rate pending their obtaining the necessary competence in the Irish language. EU trained teachers previously had to acquire the necessary competence in the Irish language within three years of their first appointment to a primary school. These teachers now have up to five years to obtain the necessary competence in the language. In addition, for the period of two years from 1 September 2000, teachers trained outside the EU whose qualifications are accepted by the Department will be granted provisional recognition for five years on the same basis as EU trained teachers.
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, which is awarded on completion of the three year course in the AMI College, are also recognised as being fully qualified substitute teachers. These Montessori trained teachers are also granted restricted recognition to teach in a temporary or permanent capacity in certain special schools and special classes. The decision to grant fully qualified teachers who trained outside the State restricted recognition to teach in certain categories of schools and classes without the necessity to hold an Irish language qualification is also contributing to an improvement in the supply of trained primary teachers.
Despite all the above initiatives, the INTO has recently said that there is a shortfall of 1,600 qualified primary teachers to fill vacant positions. The INTO has also indicated that, if there are still unqualified personnel in charge of classes at primary level by September 2005, its members will refuse to work in those schools. The Minister shares the concern in regard to the employment of unqualified teachers in our primary schools. As mentioned earlier, the number of teachers on career break is a contributory factor and a review of this scheme may be necessary.
I will deal with the modular course in primary teaching. The INTO wrote to the Department in June 2001 indicating that a resolution had been passed at its annual congress seeking the introduction of a modular course to enable post-primary qualified teachers who are currently employed in primary schools to become qualified primary teachers while continuing to serve in the primary schools. It was estimated at the time that there were 280 such people in the system.
In January 2003 the Department was approached by Dr. Seán Rowland, executive chairman of Hibernia College, who was interested in providing a modular course on-line for primary teacher training. All costs associated with such a course would be borne by Hibernia and funded by fees paid by students on the course. The Department decided that, before it would engage further with Hibernia College, it would explore with the colleges of education how such a course might be provided, as they are the primary routes for the supply of primary teachers.
The Department subsequently wrote to the colleges of education seeking proposals for the provision of a modular course to enable the specified cohort of people to become qualified primary teachers. CHOICE, the umbrella organisation for the colleges of education, responded to the Department's letter indicating that each of the colleges of education was carefully examining the Department's suggestion and also indicating that there was a range of issues on which they wished to receive further clarification. These included entry requirements, course design and content, programme delivery etc. One college, Froebel College of Education, submitted a proposal for a part-time course of three years' duration. However, the costs associated with the proposed course represented double the cost of providing the current 18 month full-time postgraduate course.
In April 2003, the Department again metHibernia College. At that meeting, the Department indicated that, as far as it was concerned, the central issue in regard to the proposal from Hibernia College was whether, if such a course was independently approved by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, HETAC, the Department would recognise graduates of the course as primary teachers. In other words, the Department made it clear to Hibernia College that its function, as the designated authority for the recognition of qualifications for purposes of employment for the regulated profession of primary teaching, was confined to recognition of a qualification, provided that all conditions set by HETAC were met, including those relating to quality assurance.
On 3 June 2003 HETAC issued a certificate of approval in respect of the course at Hibernia College. The course would be titled Graduate Diploma in Primary Education. On 1 August 2003, the Department wrote to Hibernia College indicating that the Graduate Diploma in Primary Education would be recognised by the Department for the purposes of primary teaching, subject to adherence by Hibernia College to the conditions set out in the HETAC certificate of approval and to any further conditions set by HETAC, and in particular to agreement with HETAC on appropriate quality assurance procedures.
This process would involve satisfying HETAC that the institution had the appropriate quality assurance procedures in place, compliance with HETAC requirements for the conduct of assessment and the arrangements for international and external examiners, in addition to having the content of the particular course approved by a programme accreditation panel. In addition, the quality assurance requirements of HETAC, which are published at www.hetac.ie require that, over time, each provider engages in an institutional self-evaluation process in line with international standards at higher education level, and an external review.
The Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999, under section 26(1), provides that HETAC may review a programme it has validated at any time, and under section 30 it must do so at least once every five years. The provisions in the Act provide adequate arrangements for independent assessment of awards.
With regard to the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, HETAC, the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1999 provided for the establishment of the national Qualifications Authority of Ireland and the Further and Higher Education and Training Awards Councils for the accreditation of non-university education and training awards at further and higher levels. The role of HETAC, which is a statutory body, is to establish policies and criteria for the making of higher education and training awards, and the validation of programmes; to determine the standards of knowledge, skills and competencies to be acquired by learners for an award; to make or recognise awards; and to monitor the quality of programmes, ensuring that providers have procedures for assessment of learners, which are fair and consistent.
As the national awarding body, the primary concern that HETAC must have in relation to validating a programme leading to one of its awards is whether the programme meets the appropriate outcomes for an award and the associated quality assurance arrangements for that programme. The awarding service of HETAC is open to all public and private providers, as is required under the Qualifications, (Education and Training) Act 1999. There is no legal limit on the fields of learning in which HETAC may make awards.
I now turn to the Hibernia College graduate diploma in primary education. The Department understands that there are currently some 400 students undertaking the Hibernia College programme. The first cohort of about 200 students is due to graduate in February 2005. We understand that Hibernia College has recently advertised for a third intake to the course.
The Department of Education and Science will monitor 10% of the final teaching practice students from the Hibernia College course, as is the case for students of the colleges of education. If, following the committee's meetings with HETAC and Hibernia College — which, I understand, will take place in the autumn — the committee has any information or documentation that leads it to have serious misgivings about the quality of the course offered by Hibernia, or indeed HETAC's validation, I would invite the committee to submit them both to HETAC and the Department for consideration.
I hope the committee has found the presentation informative. I hope to be able to answer any questions.