Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021
322. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education the way the entry of newly qualified teachers into the educational sector is managed by her Department in the absence of a model for same; if she will publish a teacher supply model which can accurately inform forecasts of teacher supply and demand at both primary or post-primary levels; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58459/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of students admitted to primary concurrent and consecutive programmes of initial teacher education (ITE) in state-funded higher education institutions (HEIs) is determined annually by my Department, having regard to teacher supply and demand issues, and available resources. At post-primary level, while no caps or targets on numbers are usually set, in recent years HEIs have developed, in accordance with my Department's Teacher Supply Action Plan, new undergraduate ITE programmes in targeted subjects, including mathematics, Irish and modern foreign languages.
In March 2018 the Teacher Supply Steering Group, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, was established. The Steering Group is leading on the identification of issues, the development of a programme of actions on teacher supply and overseeing its implementation. It is supported by an Implementation Group and a number of working groups which are considering specific areas of policy.
The Teacher Supply Action Plan, published in November 2018, 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. The report’s projections are based on high level demographics and to demonstrate trends in demand and supply. The projections do not take account of possible new policy measures that might affect teacher demand or supply.
Work is ongoing in my Department to produce projections of post-primary teacher demand and supply on a subject level basis to inform teacher supply planning. 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 at both primary and post primary levels.
The Technical Report is available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/055810-education-statistics/#latest-statistical-reports.
