Vol. 393 No. 1
asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that data processing is the top priority area for the in-service training of 620,000 primary and secondary teachers in France; if she has examined this French initiative; and if she will outline her policy in regard to in-service training for Irish teachers in this matter.
346.
asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that in Sweden every teacher is required to take part in in-service study days each year; and if she has considered a similar requirement here.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 345 and 346 together.
My Department is generally aware of developments in other countries and carries out reviews of such developments in the light of relevance to Irish educational requirements.
In accordance with this policy, in-service courses have been provided for post-primary teachers in recent years which covered the complete range of topics comprehended by Computer Studies including data processing. This year alone at least ten courses in the area of computers have been held by my Department.
The introduction of the junior certificate programme has involved a series of in-service courses during school time which teachers of the programme are required to attend. In general, however, the in-service requirements of teachers at second level are catered for through the provision of courses outside of school hours in which teachers participate on a voluntary basis. I have no plans to change these arrangements.
In relation specifically to in-service training for primary teachers, this is one of the areas being examined by the Primary Education Review Body. I do not wish to pre-empt the findings of the review body in this regard by commenting further on the issues raised in the questions.
