Anecdotal evidence indicates that there is an oversupply of teachers currently and that there are newly qualified teachers not yet holding teaching positions in schools. The level of student intake to the state-funded Colleges of Education is determined annually by my Department and it takes account of the supply of, and demand for, primary teachers. The level of intake to these Colleges has decreased in recent years in light of available resources and factors impacting on demand. This situation is subject to review.
My Department has introduced a circular which obliges schools to recruit unemployed teachers ahead of retired ones, in an effort to ease the difficulties for those who cannot find work in the profession.
In addition, the Deputy might also wish to note that the JobBridge National Internship Scheme has recently been extended to teachers. This provides newly-qualified teachers with opportunities to gain experience and to undertake the necessary teaching duties to complete the process of probation and fulfil the requirements for full registration with the Teaching Council.
The statistics requested by the Deputy are set out in the following table with the exception of the data from Hibernia College which will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is received from the College. This data does not include the number of graduates from the postgraduate diploma in education (primary).
|
2011
|
2010
|
2009
|
|
Primary ITE Providers
|
Bachelor of Education Years 1-3 Current Enrolment
|
B.Ed Graduates
|
B.Ed Graduates
|
B.Ed Graduates
|
|
Mary Immaculate College of Education
|
1,239
|
407
|
377
|
353
|
|
Church of Ireland College of Education
|
94
|
31
|
27
|
23
|
|
St. Patrick’s College of Education
|
1,261
|
360
|
358
|
365
|
|
Froebel College of Education
|
199
|
63
|
75
|
66
|
|
Coláiste Mhuire, Marino
|
320
|
85
|
83
|
70
|
|
3,113
|
946
|
920
|
877
|
