Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 458: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if it is her intention to provide full recognition to Montessori teachers who qualify from a college (details supplied) in County Dublin. [30008/04]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Discussions between representatives of my Department and the college referred to by the Deputy, regarding the full recognition of the HETAC accredited degree in humanities in Montessori education, are ongoing and are expected to conclude shortly. As soon as the outcomes are known, I will communicate them to the Deputy.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 459: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of unqualified teachers who have been employed in a primary school for longer than one school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30009/04]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 147 unqualified teachers employed by primary schools for the 2003-04 school year were re-employed by these schools in September 2004. The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill vacancies in an individual school is a matter for the board of management of the school concerned. Unqualified teachers should only be employed in exceptional circumstances and when all avenues for recruiting qualified personnel have been exhausted. In this context, my officials have recently written to all primary schools which, on 1 September of the current school year, were employing an unqualified teacher who had worked previously as an unqualified teacher.