Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2023
316. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Education the number of places in each teacher training college for initial teacher training for primary school teachers for the past three years, including 2023. [29425/23]
View answerThere are 5 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) providing primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Ireland; four State-funded providers and one private provider.
Each of the State-funded providers have both concurrent (undergraduate) and consecutive (postgraduate) programmes:
• DCU Institute of Education.
• Marino Institute of Education.
• Maynooth University (Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education)
• Mary Immaculate College.
Each year, the number of students admitted to primary concurrent and consecutive programmes in State-funded HEIs is determined by my Department, having regard to teacher supply and demand issues, and available resources.
The approved intake for each, over the last number of years, has been as follows:
• 1,000 places per annum on the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) programme
• 30 places per annum on the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) through the medium of Irish programme
• 200 places per annum on the Primary Masters in Education (PME) programme
Hibernia College is a privately owned institution which provides a primary consecutive (postgraduate) ITE programme only. My Department has no involvement in setting the numbers for Hibernia.
Recent policy advances, for example, the extension of DEIS status to 322 additional schools from September 2023, increased provision for students with special educational needs, and the positive changes in the staffing schedule which bring the pupil: teacher ratio in schools to a historic low, along with the enrolment of Ukrainian pupils have impacted on teacher demands and ongoing pressures relating to the availability of substitute teachers.
With these combined factors, it is anticipated that demand for primary teachers over the next number of years will exceed previous expectations.
Accordingly, following engagement with the 4 State-funded higher education institutions providing initial teacher education, I approved 610 additional places in March this year with 320 of these coming on stream in 2023, and the remaining 290 in 2024.
The new places are as follows:
• 90 additional places on the B.Ed. programme in 2023 and 2024, making a total of 1,090 each year.
• 30 additional places on the B.Ed. through the Medium of Irish in 2023, making a total of 60 in 2023.
• 200 additional places on the Professional Master of Education (Primary Teaching) (PME) programme in 2023 and 2024, making a total of 400 each year.
