Colleges should offer teaching places - INTO

Ireland's universities should consider offering places to help ease the queues for places at teacher training colleges, according to the general secretary of the INTO, Joe O'Toole.

He said Ireland was currently facing a severe shortage of primary school teachers and that the backlog of applicants to the training colleges was not helping.

The union chief added the Government should look at the possibility of allowing Montessori teachers fill vacancies at primary schools.