I thank the committee for giving the Department this opportunity to outline its position on St. Catherine's College of Education for Home Economics, Sion Hill, Blackrock, County Dublin. I would like to introduce my colleagues to the committee: Mr. Barry Conroy, assistant principal officer, teacher education section; Mr. Tony Dalton, principal officer; and Mr. Aidan Marsden, assistant principal officer. Both Mr. Dalton and Mr. Marsden are with the third level building unit. I am the principal officer in teacher education section, which is responsible for the overall policy for teacher education and development, including pre-service and continuing professional development or in-service of teachers. The area is also responsible for the funding of some colleges of education, including St. Catherine's.
I want to stress that the Department is well aware that the closure of an institution with a reputation as strong as St. Catherine's has the potential to generate controversy. There is no denying this fact. The Department is now faced with ensuring that the transition towards closure is made as efficiently and effectively as possible while taking all interests into account. I will elaborate on these matters at a later stage.
As members may be aware, St. Catherine's college has a long tradition in the training and education of teachers of home economics. The college was founded in 1910 as a higher school of domestic science and it was granted recognition by the Department as a teacher training college in 1929. In the past, students went into society as domestic science instructors and at the time were a vital link in rural and urban communities, looked up to for their range of skills and knowledge of household matters.
While events have undoubtedly moved on since those early days, the valuable contribution of St. Catherine's graduates cannot be understated. Graduates of the college have gone on to play a vital part in their community and society generally. They have brought broad-ranging skills developed at the college to several generations of young people in our second level schools. The course delivered at St. Catherine's prepares students for a teaching career in home economics, along with their elective subject, in post-primary schools and colleges. The course also prepares students for employment in the special education and continuing education sectors. In addition, employment opportunities exist in a number of related industries.
St. Catherine's college reflects a Dominican philosophy of education which promotes the cultivation of respect for self and others, a sense of community, trust, independence and initiative, and the ability to think constructively, choose wisely and take responsibility for choices. The vital role played by the Dominican Order in shaping the Irish education landscape will always be recognised through its involvement in St. Catherine's college, and also the nearby Froebel college.
Graduates of both institutions have played a valuable role in Irish education for generations and it would not be an exaggeration to say that, through their past pupils, schools throughout the State have benefited from the Dominican ethos to an extent that would have been unimaginable when the order initially became involved in teacher education. This truly is a lasting legacy and one of which to be proud. The Department is fully cognisant of this legacy and is grateful to the Dominicans for their tireless work in education over the past decades. It also recognises and expresses its appreciation for the hard work and commitment clearly shown by the management and staff of St. Catherine's.
St. Catherine's College of Education for Home Economics is a private institution owned by the Dominican Order. The order also owns the nearby Froebel college. St. Catherine's is one of two colleges recognised by the Department of Education and Science for providing a home economics teacher training course. St. Angela's College in County Sligo, which is owned by the Ursuline Order, is the other. The course is of four years duration and leads to a Bachelor of Education degree in home economics awarded by Trinity College, Dublin. St. Catherine's currently has 82 full-time students on the Bachelor of Education course and St. Angela's has 139. In part, this difference reflects the impact of the transitional arrangements made to transfer the first year intake of students from St. Catherine's to St. Angela's for the 2004-05 academic year. It should be noted, however, that St. Angela's has students studying in a wider range of disciplines than St. Catherine's and its overall student complement is 797.
In addition to home economics, the students in St. Catherine's are qualified to teach Gaeilge, religious studies and economics. Currently, there are 29 students in fourth year along with 30 in third year and 23 in second year.
The Department of Education and Science provides an annual grant to St. Catherine's to cover approved Bachelor of Education training course expenditure not met by the college's own income. In 2003, a total of €1.973 million was paid to the college. The majority of this funding, €1.697 million or 86%, was its State grant and the remainder, €276,000 or 14%, was in respect of free fees to students. These amounts represent an increase over 2002 funding. In that year, the State grant was €1.64 million while the grant in lieu of free fees was €264,000. The total allocation for 2004 is likely to be in the region of €2 million.
The future of both home economics colleges and the question of closing one or both, having regard to the ongoing demand for home economics teachers, has been an issue for the Department since the 1980s. In the early 1990s, it had been planned to consider the question of their future in the context of the review of the steering committee on the future development of higher education. The then president of St. Angela's, Sr. Marianne O'Connor, represented the specialist colleges on that committee.
When the committee issued its report in June 1995, it had not completed its examination of specialist teacher requirements, although this area had been part of its remit. The committee recommended, however, that the necessary review and analysis should be pursued further in a joint approach between the Department and the Higher Education Authority.
In May 1996, the then Minister requested the HEA to reconvene the advisory group on the supply of, and demand for, second level teachers with revised terms of reference focusing, inter alia, on the determination of specialist teacher needs outside the higher diploma in education programme. The terms of reference also sought recommendations on the required intake of students by subject area.
The review conducted by the advisory group was concluded in June 1998. This review recommended that the intake to St. Catherine's and St. Angela's colleges of education remain at a combined level of 53 students per annum. This amount represented the annual intake at that point in time which, it was assumed, would meet any future demand for teachers arising from retirements, growth in student numbers and changes in the number of schools offering the subject.
In the context of a fundamental appraisal by the Dominican congregation of its future role as trustees of educational institutions generally, the Dominican trustees of St. Catherine's decided that, for personnel and financial reasons, they were no longer in a position to fulfil the role of trustees of the college. Having reached this decision, the trustees began discussions with the Department with a view to transferring the trustee role and responsibilities.
It must be stressed that the imperative came from the Dominicans. The Department did not precipitate this development in any manner. It simply reacted to a decision taken by the order which, for all intents and purposes, took the Department by surprise. Arising from the trustees' appraisal of their future role, the Department examined a range of options for the future of the college. In exploring the range of options, the previous Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, stated that he also took a number of considerations into account. The considerations in question included the national spatial strategy, the relevant costs in a time of financial constraint, a Government decision to restrict public service numbers, the need to secure value for money and a better allocation of resources. In the final analysis, the former Minister decided that these considerations would be best served by the closure of St. Catherine's and the designation of St. Angela's College, Sligo, as the sole centre for the training of home economics teachers.
On the question of advice available to the former Minister, a former Assistant Secretary General of the Department, Mr. Jack O'Brien, was engaged to contribute a report on the future development of St. Catherine's college. On the strength of this report and the range of options relating to the future of St. Catherine's, advice was provided to the Minister.
Mr. O'Brien's report, which was completed in July 2002, recommended that the Department, through the HEA, engage with TCD, UCD and DCU, with a view to securing the incorporation of St. Catherine's in one of these universities. He indicated that he believed a merger with UCD would be most beneficial for staff and students of St. Catherine's and that this option would be welcomed by them. This view was in accordance with the position taken by senior officials in the Department.
However, this advice and the report were only two elements considered by the Minister when making his decision on St. Catherine's college and the future of home economics teaching in general. As I have already stated, the other elements concerned national considerations of an over-arching and strategic nature such as the national spatial strategy, relevant costs in a time of financial constraint, the Government decision to restrict public service numbers, the need to secure value for money and a better allocation of resources.
The current Minister, Deputy Hanafin, recently stated, in response to a series of parliamentary questions, that she does not intend to reconsider the decision made by her predecessor. This position was also set out in her response to the Private Members' motion in the Seanad on 6 October. The decision has been made and it now stands. The issues facing the Department and all parties involved with St. Catherine's relate to the management of the transition towards its closure and we will focus our efforts in this regard.
It is accepted that this decision has a very significant impact on the staff and students of St. Catherine's. This viewpoint has influenced the Department's dealings with all the parties involved in the college. The current Minister is also very mindful of the impact of the decision on the staff and students. This position will influence her dealings with St. Catherine's college. Members will be aware that the Minister indicated in the Seanad on 6 October that she is willing to meet with the parties involved in St. Catherine's.
Officials from the Department have already met with the trustees of St. Catherine's with regard to making the initial steps in regard to the necessary practical arrangements, including arrangements in respect of the staff of the college. Following a major re-organisation of the third level section in the Department, the newly formed teacher education section was given responsibility for the colleges of education for teacher training, among other areas. Mr. Barry Conroy who is another senior official from that section and I recently met the college management. Arrangements are in the process of being made to hold meetings with the trade unions and associations representing staff interests. It must be stressed, however, that like the meeting with the trustees, these are very much initial meetings. They are the first of undoubtedly many engagements that will occur between staff interests, management and trustees with officials in the Department. As one of the individuals involved in this process, I am willing to meet with all interested parties. I understand the Minister wishes to ensure this ongoing consultation remains in place throughout the transition period. I cannot over-emphasise that the transition period which St. Catherine's is now experiencing will be managed in a spirit of partnership between the Department and all parties with an interest in the college. These parties include the trustees, management, staff, students and graduates. It should be noted that the Minister reiterated this assurance in a recent response to the Private Members' motion in the Seanad. The Department fully understands the difficult position facing the management and staff of St. Catherine's. In this regard I can assure the committee that every practical action will be taken to ensure the transition period will be as smooth as feasible and that staff interests will be protected as much as possible. The Department will endeavour to ensure the impact on the remaining students will be reduced to a minimum as they complete their course of study.
The Minister has also indicated the intention that the closure of St. Catherine's will be phased over the next four years to facilitate students currently enrolled in the college in the completion of their course of training in the college. This is the timescale which informed the former Minister's decision. In this regard, the intake of students for 2004-05 went to St. Angela's College instead of St. Catherine's college. I understand this transfer of students was successful and it is envisaged that future intakes will be as successful.
The Department monitors the situation on an ongoing basis to ensure it operates as smoothly as possible and that the interests of the students are not damaged. By approaching the impending closure of St. Catherine's in a spirit of partnership, the Department is confident the difficulties represented by the decision will be addressed in the best possible way in order to lessen the impact for all concerned, college trustees, management, staff and students. Nevertheless, the Department is acutely aware, as previously indicated, that the movement of home economics education to St. Angela's College places all parties involved in St. Catherine's in a very difficult position. This awareness will inform the Department in its dealings with the parties during the transitional period.
I will be happy to answer any questions raised by members of the committee.