Still 974 unqualified teachers in schools
Monday April 07 2008
THERE are now 974 unqualified teachers working in schools countrywide, despite government efforts to radically reduce the number, new figures show.
Some 620 unqualified teachers are employed in primary schools, while another 274 untrained teachers are teaching at second level. The figures provided by the Department of Education do not include untrained substitute teachers employed on an ad-hoc basis.
Fine Gael's Brian Hayes has claimed the Department of Education is enabling hundreds of untrained personnel to "masquerade" as qualified teachers despite the establishment of the Teaching Council.
The Teaching Council Act 2001 was originally designed to remove untrained staff from classrooms.
In a parliamentary response, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said that while she is anxious to reduce the number of untrained teachers, major improvements have been made in staffing arrangements.
She said Section 20 of the Teaching Council Act will be implemented later this year, therefore ensuring that only registered teachers can be paid.
"Secondly, I will set out by regulation the restrictions to apply to the engagement of unregistered personnel. For the first time, schools will be legally required to use unregistered teachers only as an absolute last resort," she said.
However, Ms Hanafin conceded that some schools will still have to employ untrained teachers.
"But I believe that every child deserves to be taught by a qualified teacher and I am determined to keep the use of unregistered personnel to an absolutely unavoidable minimum," she added.
Last night, Mr Hayes claimed the issue of overcrowding in classrooms could not be resolved while Ms Hanafin continued to fail to deliver an adequate supply of teachers.
"How can the Teaching Council be classed as a professional body if there are untrained personnel registered with it and how can parents have faith in a system which does not have a fully trained workforce?" he asked. "More training places must be provided to allow unqualified staff to complete the necessary courses and retired teachers could be brought back temporarily, to replace unqualified substitutes," he added.
However, a spokeswoman for Ms Hanafin said there had been an increase in the number of primary teacher training places this year, with 3,600 men and women now in teacher training, in addition to over 500 people being trained through the Hibernia Online programme.
- Aine Kerr Political Correspondent
