Written question asked by Lord Rana (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Rooker (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 April 2006.

Schools: Science and Technology

Question: What measures have been taken to increase the number of teachers in science and technology disciplines in Northern Ireland.

Answer: While current evidence indicates that there are no major difficulties in the supply of science and technology teachers to Northern Ireland schools, the Department of Education has none the less asked the teacher-training providers to have regard to the need to increase the number of student teachers in science and technology subjects from within their approved intakes allocations. In addition, the department has recently granted its approval for Stranmillis and St Mary’s University Colleges to offer a BEd (Hops) secondary pathway in science from September 2006.

Secondary information