Staff recruitment and retention of staff is a challenge facing all employers in the public and private sectors in the current economic situation. I am aware of reports that it is more difficult than heretofore to fill available posts in the education sector particularly in certain areas.
I am aware that a number of primary schools are experiencing some difficulties in recruiting qualified teachers. A range of measures has been introduced by this Government to boost substantially the supply of trained primary teachers and alleviate the difficulty.
The total intake to the colleges of education for primary teaching in the 1999-00 academic year was 1,283. This compares with an intake of 500 in 1996-97. There are approximately 1,000 students again enrolled in the first year of the undergraduate training course in the 2000-01 academic year. A further post-graduate course will commence early in 2001 with a proposed intake of 280 students. It is projected that the intake to the undergraduate training course for primary teachers will continue at the current level of 1,000 for the 2001-02 academic year.
Between the 2000 and 2001 academic years it is projected that approximately 1,900 qualified primary teachers will graduate from the colleges of education. This represents a huge increase in the number of trained graduates as compared with 1995 when 291 graduated.
I am aware of the survey undertaken earlier this year by the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland, which indicated that some second level schools had experienced difficulties in recruiting qualified teachers. An additional 1,000 teaching posts are being allocated in the second level sector in the current year. My Department is not aware of any second level school that has not filled its approved teacher allocation for the current school year.