Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 March 2004
158 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on whether it is unfair and unjust to fully qualified Montessori teachers working in national schools to be regarded and paid as unqualified persons; when the latest report on the issue was received by him; and if he will take the appropriate steps to provide recognition of those with Montessori degrees. [9729/04]
View answerTwo Montessori qualifications are recognised for restricted recognition by my Department, namely the AMI — Association Montessori Internationale — qualification, which has been recognised for teaching in special education settings since 1963, and the National Diploma or Degree in Humanities in Montessori Education from St. Nicholas Montessori College, which has been recognised since 1997 and is accredited by HETAC, formerly NCEA. Both courses are full-time and of at least three years' duration.
Teachers with the above recognised Montessori qualifications are granted restricted recognition to teach in special schools and in the categories of special classes in mainstream schools where Irish is not a curricular requirement. Such teachers are also eligible for posts as resource teachers for children with special needs in mainstream schools. The conditions governing the recognition of qualifications are set out in circular 25/00, recognition of teacher qualifications for the purpose of teaching in national schools.
It is open to all other institutions which award Montessori teaching qualifications to submit their course to the National Qualifications Authority-HETAC for validation. It is a matter for this authority to decide on the equivalence of the courses provided by the college in question with the course already validated. The St. Nicholas Montessori College courses underwent significant changes in order that accreditation might be awarded. It was as a result of this process of accreditation and the course changes made that the qualification became acceptable to my Department for restricted recognition purposes. A comparative study on the St. Nicholas course and courses in the colleges of education has been carried out in the context of a request for full recognition of that course. This study is currently being examined in my Department.
Teachers with Montessori qualifications recognised by my Department are also eligible to work as substitute teachers in mainstream schools. For this work, they are paid at the trained teacher rate.
