Dr. Anne Looney:

By the quota point I presume you mean the phrase used by my colleague that we should not produce teachers that we do not need and therefore control numbers in particular subjects in order to create spaces for others. The problem is that it is a completely unnecessary measure. There is not a competition for places between subjects. We do not have a situation where I need to say to somebody applying for a programme in teaching: "Mick or Mary, congratulations, we are delighted that you are interested in teaching. It is a really important profession, but I notice you want to do English. Have you thought about physics?" In the post-primary sector it is really important that one has a passion for one's subject. We need to provide our students with people who are passionate about their discipline and have an in-depth subject knowledge. We have no evidence that we are producing too many English teachers. We could do with producing more maths and science teachers but I do not think we need to penalise those who want to be English or history teachers on that basis.