1927-1928 - Department of Education and Skills

12
otherwise, of these surplus teachers will, naturally, be a
prcess exte~ding over many years, but it is hoped to expedite
thl~ op~ratlOn b! means of the redundancy regulation,
which .will apply m future to assistant teachers (with certain
exceptions) as well as to Junior Assistant Mistresses. An
assistant teacher who is declared redundant will be expected to
accept any vacancy which the Department considers suitable in
the circu~s~ances: ~nd in view of the present shortage of qualified
teachers. It IS anticipated that there will be many opportunities
'of reducmg the number of surplus assistants in the amalzamated
schools. 0
'SUPPLY
IV.
OF PRIMARY TEACHERS.
The previous Reports contained a very full account of the
development of the System of Training of Primary Teachers and
the reforms that have been introduced during the past three years.
Under the new system the supply of students for the Training
Colleges is to be obtained from three main sources ,
(a) the Easter Scholarship Examination;
(b) the Preparatory Colleges;
(c) the new Pupil Teacher Scheme.
~~ li~ited number of places is also reserved each year for
University Graduates and for existing untrained teachers. Most
of the students admitted to training in September, 1927. for the
two years' course 1927/29 were drawn from the Easter Examination,
but in September, 1928, approximately 26.3 per cent. of the
students were Pupil Teachers who came in under the new Scheme.
The students from the Preparatory Colleges will not be available
for the Training Colleges until 1930. A considerable proportion
of candidates in training will, therefore, during the next few years
be provided by the Easter Scholarship Examinations.
(e) THE EASTER SCHOLARSHIP EXAMI ATION.
525 men and 622 women presented themselves for this Examination
in 1928, and of these 193 men and 277 women passed the
Examination. The numbers admitted to the Training Colleges as
a result of the examination were 90 women and 147 men
so that the number of candidates who qualified for admission
was considerably in excess. of the number of vacancies. Though
the number of failures is high, the result of the Examination
considered from the point of view of providing suitable candidates
for Training, must be regarded as satisfactory when the conditions
of passing the examination are borne' in mind. In order to pass,
candidates must obtain 50 per cent. on the examination as a
whole, and not less than 30 per cent. in any subject. Candidates
13
are graded in three divisions on the results of the examination.
All candidates who pass the examination and do not obtain 621-
per cent. of the total marks are placed in Third Division, those
who obtain 621- per cent. and less than 75 per cent. are placed in
Second Division and those who obtain 75 per cent. 01' over are
placed in F'irst Division. 98 women candidates and 41 men candidates
were placed in First and Second Divisions at the 1928
Scholarship Examination. The candidates supplied to the
women's Training Colleges might, therefore, be regarded as well
qualified, but a large number of those admitted to the men '8
Colleges had somewhat poor literary qualifications.
Only about 7 per cent. of the papers were answered through the
medium of Irish. It is evident from this that as far as Easter
Scholars are concerned the Training Colleges will have a
certain amount of difficulty in carrying on the instruction through
the medium of Irish for some years to come. It is interesting to
note that, in spite of this difficulty, excellent progress is being
made in this respect, as is evident from the figures given later on
in this section.
'
(b) PREPAHATORY COLLEGE SCHEME.
Details as t.o this Scheme and the setting up of five Preparatory
Colleges have been given in previous reports.
Two additional Colleges have come into operation in 1928-9,
bringing the total number up to seven, which is the full establishment
contemplated under the Scheme. There are three Colleges
for Catholic boys, three for Catholic girls, and one for Protestant
students-boys and girls. In addition it was found necessary to
open' a temporary branch College for girls in Dublin, in order to
supplement the existing accommodation available at the moment.
Particulars as to the situation of the Preparatory Colleges and
the number of students at present in' residence in each are
given in the appendices to this Report.
On the termination of the academic year 1927-8, the secondyear
students of Colaiste Caoimhin, Glasnevin, and of Colaiste
1de, Dingle, were presented for the Intermediate Certificate
examination" under the regulations of the Secondary Schools
Branch of the Department, and practically all these candidates
passed the examination with honours in the courses selected.
At the examination held in June, 1928, for entrance into the
Preparatory Colleges 1,226 candidates competed. Of these, 159
were subsequently admitted as students to the Colleges. Under
the regulations for that examination fifty per cent. of the vacant
places in the Colleges were reserved for candidates who obtained
85 per cent. or over in Oral Irish (i.e., fluent speakers of Ir-ish)