Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 November 2023
66. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the total number of teacher training places available for the year 2023-24; and how many are provided by public colleges and how many by the private sector. [52533/23]
View answerI am mindful as we are here this morning that this is the first time for education questions since the horrific attack on the students and the care provider in Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, on Parnell Square, last week. I place on the record not only my fear as a parent and my revulsion as a public representative but also my hope and my wishes that each and every single one of those affected makes a full recovery. It is important we also take time to commend those who intervened to assist our youngest learners and the person who was charged with their care, putting themselves at risk of great harm. There is no doubt in my mind that this deplorable and awful situation would have been made worse had it not been for the bravery of those individuals who acted so selflessly on that day. Our thoughts continue to be with the school, the students and the wider school community in that area.
What are the total number of teacher training places available for the year 2023-24? How many are provided by public colleges and how many by the private sector?
I know we took the opportunity to do so yesterday at the education committee, but I again offer what I know is the unified solidarity, support and sympathy of the entire House. We are particularly mindful of the children and their carer who were involved in an incident in proximity to a school on Parnell Square. I can confirm for the House that our NEPS psychologists, our school psychologists, have been in the school since the incident occurred. They continue to be there, engaging with senior management and the other staff. Additional support from a staff point of view is being provided for the school. This was an horrific incident that happened, as I said, in proximity to a school. We are very mindful of the trauma it has visited not just on the school community but on the wider community. We send our very best wishes for a speedy recovery to all the children and the carer, especially the child who remains in the care of the hospital. I thank the House for its unified support and commend the school community on the excellent leadership it is showing at a very difficult time.
I thank the Deputy for the question. There are five higher education institutions providing primary initial teacher education in Ireland: four State-funded providers and one private provider. Each of the four primary State-funded providers has both concurrent, or undergraduate, and consecutive, or postgraduate, programmes. These are DCU Institute of Education, Marino Institute of Education, Maynooth University and Mary Immaculate College. Each year, the number of students admitted to primary concurrent and consecutive programmes in State-funded HEIs is determined by the Department, having regard to teacher supply and demand issues and available resources. Hibernia College is a privately owned institution which provides a primary consecutive programme only. The Department has no involvement in setting the numbers for Hibernia.
There are 11 State-funded providers of post-primary initial teacher education in Ireland: DCU, Maynooth, Mary Immaculate College, University College Dublin, the University of Galway, University College Cork, the University of Limerick, Trinity College Dublin, the Technological University of the Shannon, Atlantic Technological University, which now includes the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and St. Angela's, and the National College of Art and Design. These institutions provide a range of concurrent and consecutive programmes. Hibernia College also provides a post-primary consecutive ITE programme.
Conscious that the professional master of education represents a very significant undertaking for students, I was delighted as part of budget 2024 to announce that a new incentive scheme will be introduced for newly qualified teachers graduating in 2024. Following engagement with the four State-funded HEIs providing primary initial teacher education, I also approved 610 additional places, with 320 of those approved for 2023 and the remaining 290 in 2024. The new places are as follows: 90 on the bachelor of education programme in 2023 and 2024, making a total of 1,090 each year; 30 additional places on the bachelor of education through the medium of Irish in 2023, making a total of 60 in 2023; and 200 additional places on the professional master of education programme in 2023 and 2024, making a total of 400 each year.
It is about ten years since this cap came in. One of the concerns I have is a report that states that four times as many places are being offered by just one private college and that more than one in three new primary teachers have come from the private market. I understand there can be strategic reasons for limiting the number of teachers trained. However, simply allowing the private sector to take over the training of primary teachers does not serve the public's best interest. In fact, it adds to barriers to those who want to pursue a career in teaching.
I welcome that the technological universities are starting in this area and expanding into it. That is very important because the provision of teacher training for many years was curtailed to certain geographic areas, which was also becoming a barrier for people. We have some of the largest class sizes in Europe. This situation has been described as an absolute crisis. Teacher supply also needs to take into account those needed in the classroom. It is a matter of the availability of teachers, so there should be consideration of those who may be on parental leave or maternity leave.
At post-primary level it is the higher education institute that determines the number of places in accordance with its own available resources and arrangements. A total of 1,650 teachers graduate from these programmes each year. As regards the overall enrolments on the initial teacher education programmes, 2022-23 is the most recent year for which confirmed data is available. There were 4,700 students enrolled in primary programmes and 6,000 students enrolled in post-primary programmes across the State. I understand that Hibernia, a private college, currently has approximately 1,200 students enrolled in primary and 600 at post-primary. This means that, in total, there are approximately 12,500 people currently preparing to become primary and post-primary teachers across the State. The Deputy will see that the very significant bulk of them are coming from the State-funded sector. Equally, as I outlined, the 600 additional places at primary level that were provided for this year are also a significant boost in intake for the primary sector.
I will go back to the balance between public and private providers. We often say that people cannot be what they cannot see. This is particularly the case in the teaching profession. We need to see diversity in our teaching staff. We need to see teachers who adequately reflect their own learners. Where training provision is moving towards being private only or a disproportionate amount of private provision, it creates socioeconomic barriers. Essentially, we are telling people that unless they have cash in the bank, they are not worthy of becoming a teacher. We all know this is true. I do not believe the Minister thinks this is true is but it is the impression given by the Department. There is also an inequality of opportunity issue. Where somebody who wishes to pursue a career in teaching may have previously pursued another career, if the only door open to them is one that comes with a significant fee, they will simply not be able to pursue that career. This is a loss to the State and to the children who would benefit from them.
I thank Deputy Clarke and I appreciate her personal engagement on this issue. More than 10,700 places have been provided by State-funded providers. There are 1,800 places with a private enterprise. With regard to the point made about fees and the difficulties with them, I was very pleased in budget 2024 to announce that, for those taking a postgraduate course in teaching, a bursary of €2,000 will be made available to them. I appreciate what Deputy Clarke has said with regard to students needing to see it so they can be it, and this is referenced consistently in the House. They need to see diversity. We have diversity in our classrooms and we need to see diversity in those who teach and those who work in SNA positions in our classrooms. I commend the excellent work being done by many of the providers. I had the pleasure of attending on two consecutive years the graduation at Marino College of Further Education. Over those years hundreds of students graduated, all from a diversity of backgrounds. This is only a positive in education.
