The total intake of colleges of education for primary teaching in the 2001-02 academic year was a massive 1,461. This was made up of 1,000 students on the three year undergraduate course and 461 students on the 18 month postgraduate course, which commenced in February 2002. This was the highest ever intake and compares with an intake of only 500 in the 1996-97 academic year under the rainbow coalition, which slashed teaching places. We are suffering as a result of that short-sighted decision. The Government is repairing the damage by making record numbers of places available in primary teaching. There was a total of 3,741 students in the teacher training colleges in the 2001-02 academic year – 3,000 on the undergraduate course, 280 on an existing postgraduate course and 461 on the new postgraduate course. A total of 1,280 primary teachers graduated in 2002.