MINISTER FOR Education Ruairí Quinn has ordered a review of teacher education amid concerns about the duplication of courses and the content of teacher-training programmes.
The review will put smaller colleges under pressure to link up or amalgamate with larger universities. It is also expected to back the establishment of “institutes of education”.
These will provide all levels of teacher education on one campus at centres of excellence around the State. Courses for pre-primary, primary and second-level teachers at undergraduate and postgraduate level could be rolled out in one location, according to education sources.
Two senior education figures are to conduct the review by June. On receipt of this report a team of international experts will also examine how teacher education in Ireland can match best practice elsewhere.
Sources say the international experts may also examine the governance of the five teacher-training colleges; four are controlled by the Catholic Church and one by the Church of Ireland.
As Labour spokesman on education in opposition last year, Mr Quinn was critical of the teacher-training colleges, which he termed “private colleges” in receipt of public funds.
There are 22 teacher-training courses available to students in five teacher-training colleges, the seven universities and a variety of other colleges. Mr Quinn is anxious to recast teacher education with a stronger emphasis on teaching skills.
As part of the national strategy to boost literacy and numeracy, the length of the teacher-training course (B Ed) for primary teachers will increase from three to four years. The postgraduate diploma in education, formerly the H Dip, has been increased from one to two years.
Last year Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, was criticised by the Teaching Council for spending too much time teaching religion. It noted how the teaching time allocated to religious education was four times that provided for science or history.
The initial review will be conducted by Prof Áine Hyland, former vice-president of UCC, and Áine Lawlor, former director of the Teaching Council, the regulatory group for teachers.
Education sources say Mr Quinn was “surprised” by a recent address in which the president of Mary Immaculate, Limerick, the Rev Prof Michael Hayes, stressed the college’s Catholic ethos.
Mr Quinn drew criticism from Catholic Church representatives when he suggested up to 1,500 Catholic primary schools could be divested as part of moves on school patronage.
