Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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442. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an application for a teaching council number (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25407/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for the teaching profession, which promotes and regulates professional standards in teaching. The Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015. There are five routes of registration with the Teaching Council which are namely Route 1: Primary, Route 2: Post-primary, Route 3: Further Education, Route 4: Other and Route 5: Student Teacher. The registration requirements for each route are set out in the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2016. My department has no role in the registration of individual teachers.

The Teaching Council have informed me that the person that the Deputy is referring to in this query, applied to be registered under Route 3 Further Education. The qualification requirements to be eligible to register under this route are as follows:

• An undergraduate degree at Level 8 or higher on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) which has a ECTS credit weighting of at least 180 credits,

or

• An undergraduate degree at Level 7 on the NFQ which has a ECTS credit weighting of at least 180 credits

AND either

• An appropriate additional qualification, or

• A minimum of three years’ experience in a workplace or instructional setting which is relevant to the qualification(s)

AND

• A Teaching Council accredited Further Education teacher education qualification (TEQ)*.

*Applicants who meet the degree qualification requirements set out above and who have not completed an accredited TEQ will be eligible for conditional registration for a period of three years in which time this requirement must be completed.

The applicant holds a Diploma in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations, Institute of Commercial Management (ICM), 2003. The Institute of Commercial Management recently confirmed that this person has studied 5 subjects valued at 10 ECTS credits each (a total of 50 ECTs) and that the standard ICM diploma qualification is equal to EQF Level 5 which equates to Level 6 on the NFQ.

Given this, the applicant does not meet the qualification requirements for registration under Route 3 Further Education. To date they have not provided evidence of any further qualifications for consideration.