Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 November 2021
250. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Education the number of primary level teachers who graduated in each of the years 2017 to 2020 and to date 2021, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56671/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are 5 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) providing primary Initial Teaching Education (ITE) in Ireland, four State-funded and one private provider.
Each of the State-funded providers has both concurrent (undergraduate) and consecutive (postgraduate) programmes:
- DCU Institute of Education.
- Marino Institute of Education.
- Maynooth University (Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education)
- Mary Immaculate College.
The number of students admitted to primary concurrent and consecutive programmes in State-funded HEIs is determined by the Minister, having regard to teacher supply and demand issues, and available resources. The intake has remained broadly stable, over the past number of years. Hibernia College is a privately owned institution which provides a primary consecutive (postgraduate) ITE programme.
The number of graduates per year, from 2017 - 2021 across the various institutions, is set out in the following table:
|
|
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Estimated 2021* |
|
State Funded HEIs |
Concurrent programmes |
1005 |
975 |
974 |
971 |
1000 |
|
|
Consecutive programmes |
214 |
217 |
225 |
231 |
200 |
|
|
Total |
1219 |
1192 |
1199 |
1202 |
1200 |
|
Non-state Funded HEIs |
Total (Consecutive programmes only) |
680 |
632 |
598 |
683 |
683 |
|
|
Total Graduates |
1899 |
1824 |
1797 |
1885 |
1883 |
*Note that estimate figures only are available for 2021 at this point.
I am aware that in recent years, school management bodies, school leaders and teacher unions have reported that some schools are experiencing difficulties in recruiting teachers, particularly teachers of certain subjects at post-primary level and substitute teachers at post-primary and primary levels.
In response to these difficulties, in March 2018, the Teacher Supply Steering Group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, was established. The Steering Group is overseeing the implementation of the Teacher Supply Action Plan, published in November 2018, which includes a range of actions under four policy headings: data/research to support teacher supply planning; higher education; policies and arrangements impacting on teacher supply; and communications / promotion of the teaching profession.
In November 2019, my Department published a technical report “Developing a Teacher Demand and Supply Model for Ireland 2020-2036”. The report was updated in May 2021 with projections of teacher demand and supply to 2038 at primary and post primary levels. Ultimately, the intention is to establish a robust data based model for the effective projection of future teacher demand and supply across the school system.
My Department is aware of the challenges currently being experienced by some primary schools in recruiting substitute teachers and has engaged with the education stakeholders on the these issues.
A range of measures are in place to provide enhanced substitute cover in the context of the current challenges. These include a major expansion of the Primary Schools Substitute Teacher Supply Panels, which now employ almost 380 teachers and provide substitute cover to over 2,500 primary schools across the country. A review of the supply panels has taken place and approximately 100 additional teachers are being added to existing/new areas where significant challenges have been demonstrated in sourcing substitution. Posts have been allocated to the base schools to allow arrangements for the recruitment of additional staff immediately.
The Supply Panels work alongside the existing methods of sourcing substitute teachers, such as the national substitution portal service Sub Seeker, operated by the Irish Primary Principals’ Network and developed in accordance with my Department's Teacher Supply Action Plan. Schools can also make local arrangements to have their own regular substitutes to call on if needed.
In addition to the expansion of the supply panels, schools have been asked to combine their allocation of principal release days into clusters so as to form a full-time fixed-term post to cover each school's principal release days
For the current school year, changes have been made to the career break scheme to permit teachers on career break to carry out unlimited substitute work. Changes have also been made to the Job Sharing Scheme to permit job sharing teachers carry out substitute work on the days they are rostered off in their own or in other schools.
The Teaching Council have undertaken a communications campaign to contact the 111,700 teachers on its register to raise awareness to the current teacher substitute challenges and to ask those teachers where possible to make themselves available for substitution in schools and to register on SubSeeker.ie so that schools are aware of their availability when seeking to fill substitute vacancies.
The Council and my Department have also engaged with higher education institutions, who have been requested to be flexible in programme delivery to enhance the availability of PME student teachers to undertake substitution work. PME students have also been advised to register with the Teaching Council and to register with Sub Seeker.
My Department will continue to engage with the education stakeholders on the issues raised about the current difficulty in accessing substitutes for teacher absences.
