Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy McConalogue for raising this issue. I am aware of the concerns of Saint Nicholas Montessori College Ireland about the recognition of its teacher education programmes. As the House will be aware, the Teaching Council is the independent statutory regulator for the teaching profession. The council sets standards for all elements of the continuum of teacher education including initial teacher education programmes, induction and continuous professional development.

The Teaching Council's regulations for the registration of teachers were first published in 2009 and set out the standards teachers must meet if they wish to be registered members of the profession in Ireland. Teachers recognised under regulation 3 are eligible for employment in restricted school settings, that is, in certain categories of special schools and in certain classes in mainstream schools where Irish is not a curricular requirement. The council has been engaged in a review of the regulations for some time. The review has been necessitated by the extension and reconceptualisation of all programmes of initial teacher education. New regulations will be also necessary in light of the Bill to amend the Teaching Council Acts that is currently completing its passage through the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The developments are part of a significant programme of reform of teacher education in which the council has been engaged in recent years, informed in part by my Department's literacy and numeracy strategy of 2011. It is important to remember that the primary focus of the reform programme is to enhance the quality of the teaching and learning experience for all children and young people. In any discussions we have about teaching and learning, including inclusive education, the learner must be the focus.

As the statutory professional standards body for teaching in Ireland, the Teaching Council is of the view that all teachers should be first and foremost qualified and registered as teachers in their given sector, whether primary or post-primary, before they specialise in particular areas of teaching and learning. Special education needs is now mandatory in all programmes of initial teacher education under the council's criteria and guidelines so the landscape has evolved significantly since regulation 3 was put in place.

That said, the council itself acknowledges that no one phase of teachers' learning will be sufficient to address all the needs of the pupils they will teach throughout their careers. The very concepts of continuous professional development and the draft national framework for teachers' learning, Cosán, bear out that. Specialist provision will continue to have its place in teachers' learning. Once teachers are fully qualified and registered, it is hoped they will continue to have a keen interest in finding quality programmes that will enable and empower them to adapt their practice to the needs of children in their care.

The council has consulted with a number of stakeholders, including Saint Nicholas Montessori College Ireland. Following consultation, the council has revised its draft regulations to provide that students who commence the programme, which is one of the questions Deputy McConalogue asked, on or before 1 September 2015 and who complete it no later than 1 September 2020 will be able to register with the council. This will give the college ample lead-in time, in addition to that which they have already, to develop a programme at post-graduate level which would meet the requirements of the council. In this scenario, future graduates of Saint Nicholas Montessori College Ireland would be registered teachers who would have specialised in special education needs and would therefore have access to the same employment opportunities as other registered teachers.

Recent changes in the teacher education landscape have been designed to ensure that inclusive education, incorporating the education of learners with special education needs, is given the appropriate professional space and time. In summary, the advice of the council that regulation 3 is no longer required has been accepted.

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