The Minister for Education, Mr Martin, is to increase the number of teacher training places because of the problem of finding suitably trained teachers for primary and second-level schools.
His new measures will include increasing the number of places available in primary teacher training colleges to 1,000. He will also increase the number of places available for the Higher Diploma in Education.
The primary teachers' organisation, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), gave a cautious welcome to the initiative. Its general secretary, Senator Joe O'Toole, said that it would be two years before the measures would have an impact. In the meantime, primary education would continue to suffer shortages in a number of areas, including substitution and remedial teaching.
Mr Martin said this year 730 students would be admitted into standard B. Ed courses in Colleges of Education. Another 280 degree holders would be admitted to special 18-month postgraduate courses. This special measure would be followed by a permanent expansion in primary teacher training places.
Mr Martin is also allowing graduates of St Mary's College, Belfast, who have Irish as an academic subject as part of their teaching qualification, to be considered qualified to teach in primary schools. Discussions are taking place with St Mary's College to provide a one-year, intensive conversion course in Irish for Northern-trained primary teachers.
The Minister said yesterday that to alleviate the difficulty in finding trained substitute teachers two groups would be recognised as qualified substitutes. These would be the holders of a recognised primary degree and a Higher Diploma in Education and Montessori teachers who have a three-year degree, the St Nicholas Montessori qualification, and those who are trained by the Association Montessori Internationale who are currently recognised to teach in special primary schools.
At second level, the Minister said there had been difficulties finding trained teachers in a number of key areas. He had agreed to raise the cap on Higher Diploma in Education places from 800 to 940 for the coming academic year. Some 100 of these places would be specifically for teachers of Irish, religion, Italian, Spanish and key sciences. In addition, a Higher Diploma in Education through Irish would be introduced at NUI Galway.
Senator O'Toole said the INTO had been highlighting the question of teacher numbers for four years and while he was pleased the Minister had responded, 768 national schools still did not have access to the services of a remedial teacher.
In recent years, the number of teachers retiring has been higher than the output from the training colleges. There has also been growing concern at the increase in the number of teaching hours allocated to unqualified teachers.