Decision on extra teacher-training places delayed

THE Department of Education has delayed a decision on proposals it sought for extra teacher-training places from a leading college, despite the shortage of primary school staff.

Froebel College of Education in Dublin submitted an outline of a three-year part-time postgraduate course to Education Minister Noel Dempsey’s officials last May.

The department had sought suggestions from the teacher-training colleges for a modular course to enable the estimated 280 primary teachers without qualifications to qualify properly.

But it made no formal response to Froebel College, except to acknowledge their submission had been received.

The development comes as two reports from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development in the past week highlight the need to provide at least 1,000 primary school teachers.

Education at a Glance 2003 showed that Ireland’s teachers are among the oldest in the developed world, and warned of the need to prepare for future staff shortages.

Froebel College head of education Brian Tubbert said the Department of Education made no detailed response to their proposals earlier this year.

“We expected the department to come back and discuss it with us further, but we heard nothing like that. However, we are still happy to meet the department to discuss our proposals,” he said.

Last night, the Department of Education said it did not respond to Froebel College’s proposal because it was under consideration on its own merits and in the context of the demand for and supply of primary teachers generally.

The five education colleges, represented by umbrella group CHoICE, OK also sought meetings with Department of Education officials from last May to clarify what should be included in a part-time course.

But they only received a reply last month, telling them that a meeting would be arranged after the department completes a survey of the demand for teachers.

“It seems extraordinary that it took three months to receive acknowledgement of letters and that, even now the department will not yet meet us on modular courses they proposed themselves,” said CHoICE spokesperson Dr Peadar Cremin.

The education colleges have trebled the output of trained teachers since 1999, to almost 1,500 graduates this year. These include hundreds who have taken an 18-month full-time diploma course for degree holders in the past five years.

Education Minister Noel Dempsey approved an online teacher-training course last month, which will take just 18 months to complete. The course is being provided by Hibernia College, a private institution which expects to take on hundreds of students for the postgraduate course in the next six months.

However, the Department of Education has still to make a decision on intake to the graduate diploma courses in the education colleges for the next academic year.

The decision is usually made in October, but sources indicate that the usual discussions on these courses have not taken place so far this year.