The level of student intake to the Colleges of Education is determined annually by my Department and it takes account of the supply of, and demand for primary teachers. The post graduate course was introduced as a response to a shortage in the supply of primary teachers. It was first provided in the 1995/96 academic year and has been repeated almost each year since then. The course has not as yet been incorporated as a permanent feature of primary teacher training. The decision to provide further courses is generally made on an annual basis depending on the teacher supply situation. Intake to the two most recent such courses was at a record high of 490 students.
The intake into the Colleges of Education in future years will continue to be kept under review by my Department to ensure that there is an adequate supply of teachers. The number of places on both the Bachelor of Education and Post Graduate courses in recent years are detailed in the table.
Annual Intake to Colleges of Education
Year
|
Post Graduate February
|
Bachelor of Education September
|
2003
|
280
|
1,000
|
2004
|
280
|
1,000
|
2005
|
280
|
1,000
|
2006
|
280
|
1,000
|
2007
|
280
|
1,000
|
2008
|
490
|
1,000
|
2009
|
490
|
1,000
|
2010
|
200
|
Not yet known
|