Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2019
214. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new teachers needed each year for Gaelscoileanna; and the number of teachers that are graduating each year from teacher training colleges having undertaken their training completely in Irish. [43376/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraTeacher allocations to all schools (including Gaelscoileanna) are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school managements annually and are available on the Department’s website.
The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012). In accordance with Department Circulars 0044/2019 and 31/2011, schools are required to employ appropriately qualified and registered teachers.
At primary, all teachers must be qualified to teach the range of subjects as outlined in the Primary School Curriculum -1999 (Curaclam na Bunscoile) to children in all classes. The ability to speak Irish proficiently and to use Irish as the language of incidental communication in the classroom is a prerequisite for teaching for all teachers. This is reflected in the Teaching Council’s Criteria and Guidelines for Programme Providers (2011, updated in 2017), against which all programmes of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) are accredited, where Gaeilge is a mandatory element of all primary programmes.
At post-primary, an Irish language Certificate for Post-Primary schools (Teastas Gaeilge do Mhúinteoirí Iarbhunscoile (TGMI), allows teachers to show that they fulfill the requirement in Irish for appointment as a teacher in Post- Primary schools in which Irish is the daily teaching medium. A specific programme is offered by the National University of Ireland, Galway, a Máistir Gairmiúil san Oideachas (Professional Masters in Education) Initial Teacher Education programme, targeted towards post-primary teachers of other subjects through Irish.
A number of measures which support the supply of teachers to Irish-medium schools have been introduced as part of the implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022. This includes the commencement in 2018 of a new Irish-medium Masters in Education (M.Ed.) for primary and post-primary teachers, including principals, in Mary Immaculate College and the commencement in 2019 of a new 4-year Irish-medium Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) for primary teachers in Marino Institute of Education. The new programmes provide for up to 60 new places for teacher education through Irish annually. Since 2017, two additional teaching posts have also been provided for the Máistir Gairmiúil san Oideachas (Professional Masters in Education) teacher education programme NUI Galway via secondment arrangements. The objective of these two additional posts is to work towards increasing the number of post-primary teachers who can deliver a range of subjects through the medium of Irish. The number of students enrolled in the first year of the programme has increased from 25 in 2017 to 35 in 2019.
