MINISTER FOR Education Batt O’Keeffe has backed a new plan that could see holders of the higher diploma in education employed as “apprentices” for up to two years. The graduates would earn a reduced rate of €20,000 per year, while also studying for a masters degree.
The plan has been proposed by Prof Tom Collins, head of education at NUI Maynooth in response to the jobs crisis facing student teachers. The teachers’ unions estimate that 2,000 student teachers due to graduate this summer will struggle to find employment.
Yesterday, the Minister said he hoped to discuss the plan with Prof Collins. “I am very receptive to good ideas and I am very interested. We must all understand that we are all fiscally very tight. I intend to talk to him and see what the merits are and the implications for my department.
“If there were ways and a mechanism by which we could engage teachers who were not gainfully employed at present at minimum cost, obviously we were going to consider that,” he added.
Prof Collins believes the plan could help alleviate the jobs crisis facing 1,000 students this summer. It could ease the staffing crisis facing schools when the Budget cutbacks take effect in September, he said. But the Minister said he had no plan to extend teacher training for primary teachers from three to four years.
Prof Collins, an education columnist with The Irish Times, is also chair of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, which advises on curricular matters at primary and second level.
His plan would see qualified second-level teachers joining teaching staff on a studentship programme for up to two years. They would provide 10–15 hours teaching, extra curricular provision per week and enrol for a masters degree. Prof Collins said the graduates would qualify for a jobseeker’s allowance of €10,000, supplemented by €10,000 from sources such as the European Social Fund and Fás.
