We have no objection to this Estimate, which also is for an increase in salaries. However, there is one point I should like to mention. It is the employment, or rather the non-employment, of married vocational teachers. A very high percentage of vocational teachers are engaged in teaching domestic economy. I do not think we have a single male domestic economy teacher. These young ladies are qualified and trained at considerable expense to the State. They are then sent down the country to teach domestic economy. Just when they have gained a little experience, they marry and are completely lost to the profession. They are no longer employed. That is very wrong.
I have in mind a particular lady—an excellent teacher—who taught for years in County Dublin. Then she married and took up residence in my county of Donegal. She could no longer get regular employment with any vocational education authority in the State. But four miles from her residence she is now fully employed by the Six County Government as a vocational teacher. They are delighted to have her.
We tried this out some years ago when we would not employ married primary teachers even in a temporary capacity, but we found that was not a success. We are now re-employing primary teachers. Why can we not do that in the vocational schools, particularly when a high proportion of these teachers are females engaged on domestic economy—a subject in which experience is much more valuable than all the knowledge acquired in a domestic economy training school.
I would appeal to the Minister not to throw these married women out, but re-employ them just as he has rightly done in the case of the primary teachers. It would be to the advantage of the students, the profession and the country generally. We would bear in mind that vocational education is one branch of education in which we have been lagging behind. We had not the schools, but we are getting on with that now. We are now lagging behind because we have not got the teachers. The number of students we can take into the training colleges is limited. If we are to progress with the building programme, we must also progress with the teaching programme. We should re-employ these people, be it in commercial classes or domestic economy classes. I appeal to the Minister seriously to consider that point. If he does he will have the blessings of the vocational education committees and of the parents of pupils throughout the country.
