I am very happy to be in a position to introduce the Teaching Council Bill which is extremely important for teachers, pupils and their parents, and for the country as a whole. Its general aim is to provide for the establishment of standards, policies and procedures for the education and training of teachers, which will include a professional code of conduct. In particular, the Bill will provide for the establishment of a Teaching Council. It will allow the 45,000 teachers in the education system a large degree of self-regulation and professional autonomy. It will enhance the status and morale of the teaching profession and underpin the excellent quality of education already provided. For students and their parents, the Bill will provide the assurance that the teachers who work with their children meet the highest standards of professional qualification and competence through a professional code of conduct. It will also provide parents with a clear and transparent course of action in the event of a teacher failing to meet these standards. It will copperfasten the high standard of education provided, which has been so important to the State's recent economic and social development, and which continues to be important for the future of the nation as a whole.
Work on the establishment of a teaching council in Northern Ireland is ongoing and what we do here today will ensure that teachers in Ireland, both North and South, will be in a position to move forward together. The establishment of teaching councils in both parts of Ireland will ensure that the high standards of teaching, North and South, of which we are so justly proud, will continue, and will be seen to continue, in the future.
This Bill will enhance further the status of teaching as a profession. The council will play a central role in ensuring that the high standards of our teachers and of education will not be just maintained, but strengthened. The establishment of the council will allow teachers themselves to undertake the functions necessary to ensure that quality remains the trademark of the teaching profession.
Already, we have similar professional bodies such as the Medical Council and the Nursing Board. It is timely now that the State should formally recognise that teachers have their own professional role in a Teaching Council. This will confirm their status, entitle them to self-regulation and empower them with greater responsibility for educational standards and quality.
This Bill represents the culmination of a process of consultation and deliberation which began two and a half years ago with the establishment of a steering committee, in which teachers were centrally involved. It advised the Minister on the establishment of a council. Its report was published in October 1998 and the drafting of this legislation was based on its conclusions and recommendations which were agreed by all involved.
The establishment of a Teaching Council was advocated in a range of official reports, including the 1991 OECD review of Irish education and the 1992 Green Paper, Education for a Changing World. Teachers themselves, as well as the other partners in education, sought the establishment of such a council. They believe, as I do, that a council will have a major role in recognising the contribution of teachers as professionals possessing the knowledge and expertise, not only to shape the future of their profession, but also to contribute effectively to the future direction of education policy.
The council will be an independent, statutory agency, which will exercise the powers and perform the functions through which teachers can achieve a large degree of professional autonomy and self-regulation. It will have a statutory role in the regulation of the teaching profession and the professional affairs of teachers, and an advisory role in relation to other matters.
Section 7 of this Bill outlines the functions of the council, which are: to 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 regulation; promote the continuing education and training and professional development of teachers; conduct inquiries into and, where appropriate, impose sanctions regarding teachers' fitness to teach. The council will also conduct or commission research, represent the teaching profession on educational issues and provide advice to the Minister.
Section 8 provides for a broad representation of interests on the 37 member council. As is the norm in the case of professional bodies, the majority of members will be drawn from the teaching profession and will be elected by practising teachers. It is important that it should also have access to expertise from areas outside, but interested in, the teaching profession. The steering committee, representing the partners in education, recommended the composition as outlined in this Bill. It is on the basis of their recommendation that the Bill provides for the teacher training colleges, parents' associations and management bodies to have representation.
I have also provided for five persons representative of outside interests to be appointed to the council. Of these five, one each will be nominated by ICTU and IBEC. I am also considering including a representative from a post-primary student council as one of my nominees. I am confident that the broad based composition of the Teaching Council will be an important factor in ensuring widespread support for its work and overall success in promoting best practice within the teaching profession.
Teachers have much to gain from the Teaching Council. Working through and in consultation with the council, they will play a key part in the self-regulation and development of their profession. Within the framework provided by the council, teachers will be able to address issues of professional autonomy in the context of teaching. Their professional status and recognition will be enhanced greatly by many elements of the Bill, in particular by the professional code of conduct provided for in section 6. The council will be responsible for the drafting of this code and I envisage that it will encompass a statement of professionalism agreed by all teachers. Being part of a recognised, collective professional identity with statutory authority will enhance the status and identity of teachers.
The Teaching Council will be the voice of teachers by promoting the profession through a celebration of achievements and by raising public awareness of the way teachers work and of the environment in which they work. An improved and widely promoted image of the profession will benefit the teachers of today and encourage new entrants for the future. The Teaching Council will play an important part also in ensuring that the in-career professional development of teachers remains relevant to their short-term and long-term needs. The council will advise the Minister in relation to standards for entry into programmes of teacher education and training and teacher supply. Its particular role in this regard will be to ensure that the professional needs of the teaching profession are recognised when policy decisions are taken in key areas. With the new professional image provided by the Teaching Council, teachers will be better placed to input into policy development.
In common with most self-regulated professions, the Teaching Council will establish and maintain a register of its members as provided for in section 31 of this Bill. The register of teachers will be the main regulatory instrument of the council and will stand as a verifiable expression of the standard of teaching, knowledge, skill and competence that teachers aspire to have and maintain. Section 31 also provides for the Teaching Council to decide on the information to be held on the register and on what type of information will be made available to the public. The register will include specified details for each registered teacher, including the findings of any disciplinary proceedings and the period for which such information will remain on the register.
The council will publish the register and make it available for inspection. Each teacher must have attained a satisfactory level of professional qualification and training to be entitled to register, and only those who achieve such standards will be able to work and be paid as teachers in State funded positions. The register will effectively act as a statement of the standards required of teachers. Following the initial period of registration, teachers will renew their registration annually.
For parents, the Teaching Council will provide an assurance that the teachers who work with their children have been recognised as meeting the highest standards of professional qualification and competence. Where parents have concerns regarding their children's teacher, there will now be a clear and transparent course of action available to them, with procedures to safeguard the rights and duties of all parties with appropriate remedies, where such are found to be needed. If the setting and maintaining of standards by the Teaching Council on behalf of the teaching profession is to have any meaning, the council must have power to act in the event of a teacher failing, for whatever reason, to reach these standards. Thus, a procedure for dealing with complaints against a teacher is set out in section 42 of the Teaching Council Bill, whereby the council may establish committees to assist, advise or perform any function it may wish to delegate.
Two committees will deal with complaints received by the council, the investigating committee and the disciplinary committee. These committees will be empowered to investigate and adjudicate on complaints where it is alleged that teachers have failed to meet acceptable standards of practice. The members of the committees will be drawn from the membership of the Teaching Council as laid down in sections 27 and 28 and will operate under procedures drawn up by the council to protect the rights of all concerned. In particular, any teacher against whom a complaint is made will have his or her rights to due process fully observed and a teacher's right of recourse to the courts will not be impinged.
Section 44 of the Bill provides the Teaching Council with a range of remedies in the event of a teacher being found unsatisfactory following the procedures which I have just outlined. For example, a teacher may be retained on the register, subject to conditions which are intended to assist the teacher to overcome the difficulties encountered. Other options include referral of the teacher to the teacher welfare service or to a relevant professional development course or suspension of the teacher from the register for a period of time. In a very serious case, a teacher may be permanently removed from the register, which would obviously be a very serious matter. In recognition of the consequences of deregistration, any such decision by the council will require the assent of the High Court, as provided for in section 44.
The manner in which the Teaching Council addresses the difficult but important task of disciplining a member will be watched with interest by all of us interested in education. The relevant provisions in the Bill adequately meet the needs of these cases. The provisions are a fine balance between respecting the rights of teachers to fair consideration and due process and the rights of students and parents to have confidence in the system of redress open to them in the event of a complaint against a teacher.
The Teaching Council will give members of the profession a significant measure of control over professional issues relating to all aspects of the teaching career, including recruitment and sup ply, initial preparation, induction, probation, career development and professional conduct and competence. For the first time there will be a unified framework in place for the recognition of teachers and the accreditation of programmes of teacher education and training. Previously at first level, the Department's inspectors have had a role in this area; at second level, the task has fallen to the Secondary Teachers Registration Council.
In the changing and increasingly complex academic and professional world a unified approach is needed. Increasingly universities and colleges are designing more courses targeted at those who want to teach in our schools. The demand for recognition from teachers qualified outside Ireland is ever increasing. Ireland is now part of a wider Europe and we have a responsibility to be mindful of our European Union and wider international obligations in regard to the recognition of qualifications. The Teaching Council will be the designated authority for the purpose of ensuring that these commitments are fulfilled.
The Teaching Council Bill provides us with a timely opportunity to regularise review and accreditation procedures for teachers, whether qualified in Ireland or abroad. The Bill will repeal the Registration Council (Constitution and Procedures) Rules, 1926, under which the Registration Council operated. The functions of the Registration Council will pass to the new Teaching Council which will be responsible for determining the education, training and qualifications required for the purposes of satisfying the requirements of registration. The role of the Teaching Council regarding the professional education of teachers will not end when the teacher begins to teach as it will play an important part in the probation and induction of teachers and in the professional education of teachers throughout their careers.
I know Senators are conscious of the importance of fostering and developing good North-South contacts in all areas, including education. The House will also be aware that there have been fruitful contacts between Ministers and Departments North and South in recent years and that this interaction has been formalised through the North-South Ministerial Council established within the framework of the Good Friday Agreement.
The North-South Ministerial Council has already met twice in education sector format and has established a number of joint working groups to progress co-operation on matters of mutual concern. These joint working groups will consider issues such as special needs provision, tackling disadvantage, educational exchange activity and the situation of teachers in the island as a whole. Much work has taken place on the establishment of a teaching council in Northern Ireland. Section 7 of the Teaching Council Bill specifically provides for co-operation with that council so that an all island approach can be taken where that is mutually beneficial.
We have much in common with our colleagues in Northern Ireland in the high standards of education provided to our students. I am pleased that the Bill gives statutory expression to this spirit of co-operation. There is much scope for co-operation in the areas within the remit of the Teaching Council and I know that both councils will approach this matter with the enthusiasm that has been the hallmark of previous endeavours in this field. I am aware that there has been ongoing contact between officials on both sides of the Border as proposals for both councils have developed. We look forward to continuing close contacts in the future.
The initial stage in establishing the Teaching Council will be critical from the financial point of view. Until the first council is in place, it will not be possible to levy fees and, therefore, provide the necessary finance to fund the initial phase of establishment. In the interim, the start up costs will be provided from central funds. There are a number of reasons for this including that the Teaching Council will assume responsibility for a range of functions currently being performed by my Department. In particular, the work now being done by the registration council will be transferred to the Teaching Council. The Teaching Council will provide a range of advisory services and expertise to my Department and it will provide a significant contribution towards continually monitoring the quality of education. In recognition of these services, it is appropriate that the Government, through my Department, signals its support for the work of the Teaching Council by financing its activities through this critical early period of development. Section 21 provides for this funding.
The steering committee, which was representative of all the partners in education, recommended the payment of a membership fee by all new applicants for registration. It also recommended that the fee should be waived for the first year of registration in the case of existing teachers who qualify for registration with the council. Section 23 allows the council to set and charge fees. During the course of the debate in the other House, I introduced an amendment to ensure that members of the council are indemnified against any legal action taken as a result of actions or decisions of the Teaching Council.
The high quality of the teaching profession has been a theme in my remarks. The profession has traditionally attracted personnel of a consistently high calibre and I am sure that the provisions of the Bill will go a long way towards ensuring this continues. The Teaching Council will be central to the development of the teaching profession in the future. Through the council, teaching will mature as a profession and reach a new stage in its development. The development to this point of the proposals for the Teaching Council has taken place in close co-operation with those for whom it will be most immediately relevant, teachers themselves. I look forward to continuing to work closely with teachers and the other partners in education as together we move to establish a Teaching Council.
This debate marks another significant step towards the establishment of the council. There was a useful debate in the other House and I look forward to this continuing in the House and to hearing the contributions of Senators. I assure the House that I will constructively respond to the points raised. This important Bill deserves our support and I commend it to the House.