Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Penrose. I have received the same queries that were raised with him and his colleagues.

I was in the United Arab Emirates and met a number of Irish teachers there. There are more than 3,000 of them there. The one message I received there was about the great respect for Irish teachers teaching abroad. Often this is not evident in Ireland. A really proud individual running a school in the United Arab Emirates ran over to me and told me she would employ only Irish teachers. My face dropped because I am aware of the lack of teachers in the system here but the comment indicated how good Irish teachers are. I am highly cognisant of the importance of having a teacher at the top of the classroom who is able to deliver quality teaching to the children.

With regard to the question the Deputy asked, I realise he knows all the details. The changes were identified. We came up with a literacy and numeracy strategy. This occurred under former Minister Ruairí Quinn. I pay tribute to him in this regard because our standard of literacy has gone right up. Ireland is one of the best in Europe in English reading and mathematics.

Many of the issues have been identified. The officials feel these issues are very complicated and complex. The Teaching Council provided advice. It commissioned the Economic and Social Research Institute to carry out research on its behalf to inform deliberations on the grades students should have in their leaving certificate examinations. The grade for English is now H4 and that for mathematics is H7 or an O4. This reflects the new grading system. The changes had regard to the Department's 2015 policy, Supporting a Better Transition from Second Level to Higher Education: Implementation and Next Steps. The changes were announced in October 2017 to take effect for entrants to primary initial teacher education programmes from 2019 onwards. This was to ensure account was taken of students who had already commenced the senior cycle and would be sitting the leaving certificate in 2018. However, to exempt all students with a degree from meeting the new requirements, as suggested, would take away any benefit arising from the changes. In practical terms, this would mean that, years from now, those who met the old entry requirements could apply for the professional master of education course alongside those who would have to meet the new requirements. It would also mean a difference straight away between the standard for students on the postgraduate course and those who have just done the leaving certificate examination and who are starting an undergraduate teaching degree.

On behalf of the Department, I appreciate the Deputy's concern for students who had planned to apply to pursue the professional master of education qualification for primary teaching and who no longer meet the minimum entry requirements. I have past pupils in that category. The Department has received a number of submissions in this regard, and these are currently under consideration to ascertain whether a solution can be found for the students most affected.

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