Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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241. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the refusal by her Department to facilitate a diploma in education in Sherkin Island national school; if this has been the case in the past; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38936/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Teaching Council is the body with statutory authority, under the Teaching Council Act 2001, for establishing procedures and criteria for the probation of teachers. All primary teachers must complete their probation successfully before they can achieve full registration with the Teaching Council. As part of the probationary process, at the request of the Teaching Council, the Inspectorate of my Department evaluates the professional competence of primary teachers. The conditions under which teachers are eligible for probation are outlined by the Teaching Council.

Newly qualified teachers, including those who are availing of JobBridge in order to complete probation, are expected to teach a mainstream class usually consisting of a minimum of 10 pupils. This class size will enable inspectors to evaluate the teacher's ability to manage a mainstream class.

It was brought to the attention of the Inspectorate in August 2014, that teachers availing of JobBridge who had applied for inspection visits for the purpose of probation were in some instances given responsibility for a very small number of pupils. The Inspectorate consulted with the Teaching Council and it was agreed that teachers availing of JobBridge should have full responsibility for the minimum of 10 pupils in order to ensure that inspectors could evaluate their ability to manage a full mainstream class.

This information was placed on the website of Limerick Education Centre, which administers details of probationary teachers, following the consultation. Any teacher availing of JobBridge, who applied to Limerick Education Centre for inspection visits for the purpose of probation after the information was placed on the website, was subject to the condition that they were responsible for a minimum of 10 pupils.

Therefore, not all schools or teaching assignments provide a suitable setting for probation evaluation to take place in line with the Teaching Council's current requirements.