Since 2006, the Teaching Council is the body with statutory responsibility and authority for regulation of the teaching profession, including the registration of teachers under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015.
Under the Teaching Council [Registration] Regulations 2009, Regulation 3 (Montessori and other categories), graduates with certain Montessori qualifications (Level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications) are allowed to be registered as teachers to teach in certain restricted settings in recognised schools.
Lengthening and reconfiguring the programmes of initial teacher education is a key component of the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020. These changes were incorporated into the Teaching Council's Policy Paper on the Continuum of Teacher Education, which set the criteria for providers of initial teacher education. The Deputy should note also that all graduates of initial teacher education programmes from summer 2016 onwards will have studied SEN modules under the Council's standards for these programmes.
It is my Department's policy that all students are entitled to be taught first and foremost by fully qualified, registered teachers. The revision to the registration regulations is in accordance with the policy and the revised regulations will provide for the recognition of graduates of the 59 reconceptualised programmes of initial teacher education which are accredited by the Council as qualifying persons to teach in Ireland. The revised regulations will also give effect to changes made in the Teaching Council (Amendment) Act 2015, such as the placing of the garda vetting of new teachers on a statutory footing. Revised regulations have recently been approved by the Teaching Council and will shortly take effect.
Further to significant stakeholder engagement following publication of draft revised registration regulations in 2014, the new regulations will provide for persons currently registered with the Council under Regulation 3 on the basis of holding a level 8 Montessori qualification. The Regulations will also allow for the registration of persons who obtain a level 8 Montessori qualification, where the course is commenced on or before 1 October 2016 and the qualification is obtained before the end of 2021.
The Department has no plans to change the current position whereby teachers who are registered with a level 8 Montessori qualification under Regulation 3 (or its equivalent in the new regulations) are eligible for employment as teachers of pupils with special education needs in recognised mainstream primary schools and special schools.
