Vol. 409 No. 6
152 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education whether Coláiste Moibhí, the Church of Ireland Preparatory College for prospective national teacher trainees, remains as a preparatory college; and if not, if she will outline the status it now has.
153 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education if she will outline the changes in status which took place in 1968 or thereabouts to Coláiste Moibhí; the statute(s) and sequential statutory instruments or ministerial orders under which the changes, if any, were made; and if she will now lay before the Oireachtas all the relevant documentation.
154 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education the reason Coláiste Moibhí is monitored under the aegis of the primary section of her Department rather than the secondary section; and the way in which this is reconcilable with the school's classification as a second level school in her Department's list of second level schools.
155 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education if she will outline the number of (a) students who are in attendance at Coláiste Moibhí, (b) whole time teachers who are dedicated to this school's activities and (c) whole time equivalent teachers who teach there who also teach at the Church of Ireland Teacher Training College, Rathmines, Dublin 6.
156 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education the number of the last crop of leaving certificate graduates of Coláiste Moibhí who went on directly to national teacher training.
157 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education whether professed Roman Catholics or persons of any other religious denomination or philosophical disposition are ineligible for admission as students to Coláiste Moibhí; and if so, whether any professed Roman Catholic students have ever been admitted there.
158 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education whether students in attendance at Coláiste Moibhí are in receipt of wholly free second level education, including board and lodging, all of which or the bulk of which is funded by her Department.
159 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education whether she approves of the contents of an invitation contained in a recent advertisement published on behalf of the Coláiste Moibhí authorities to prospective second level students about to enter the two year senior cycles to leaving certificate to seek admission to a three year senior cycle course at Coláiste Moibhí; whether her Department had approved such a course.
160 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education if she will make a statement on her Department's policy for the future of Coláiste Moibhí.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 to 160, inclusive, together.
Coláiste Móibhí consists of two leaving certificate classes attached to the Church of Ireland College of Education. They replace the preparatory college of the same name which was closed in 1968 by my Department in consultation with the college authorities. There were, and are, no statutes governing either the former preparatory colleges or the colleges of education; the latter operate under the rules for national schools.
Because of this, matters pertaining to teacher training were formerly dealt with by my Department's primary branch. Following recent internal reorganisation, the colleges of education, including the juniorate known as Coláiste Móibhí which is administered as part of the Church of Ireland College of Education, now come under the remit of the third level section of the Department.
