Vol. 399 No. 8
143 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Education her views on whether it would be in the interests of the education system if her Department provided systematic opportunities for teachers to participate in longer term forms of in-service education which would provide them with opportunities for reflection and renewal; that teachers should be compensated for participating in such courses; the plans she has in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
I am very conscious of the benefits of in-service education for teachers and for the education system generally. It is for this reason that I have in recent years devoted substantially increased resources to in-service. For instance the in-service provision of £750,000 for post-primary teachers in 1990 represents an increase of 142 per cent over the 1988 provision. Of necessity, these funds have been devoted to short courses to familiarise teachers with the new junior certificate programme.
In regard to the future provision of in-service training, I propose to ask the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to examine in general the needs of teachers in this area and to make recommendations on how these needs can best be met.
The whole question of in-service training for primary teachers is one of the issues being considered by the Primary Education Review Body and I would not wish to pre-empt their report.
