Ms Amanda McCloat:

St. Angela's College is responsible for educating home economics teachers. We are the sole provider of home economics teacher education in the country. We will take in 112 students next September who will qualify to be a home economics teacher. In addition, we will shortly launch a professional diploma in home economics. We are cognisant of the shortage of teachers and we will upskill out of field teachers. If somebody is a registered teacher in another subject, he or she will have the opportunity in September to go to St. Angela's College for one year to qualify as a home economics teacher. He or she will be recognised by the Teaching Council in home economics in addition to whatever subjects they may have. That is a new development, but we are being proactive to respond to the shortage of home economics teachers. We also have developed a bachelor of education in home economics, which we hope to roll out shortly as well. We are being proactive and cognisant of the fact that there is a shortage of home economics teachers.

Teaching home economics is predominantly a female profession and home economic teachers avail of a number of types of family leave. While a shortage is reported frequently, but it may be for a period of specific cover, for example maternity leave, short-leave, carer's leave and so on. That is a challenge the profession faces in terms of providing teachers for those short-term periods of cover. All our graduates last year, with the exception of two, went directly into schools to schools. The two graduates who did not went on to study for a full masters programme. We are keeping a record of where our graduates go.