S.I. No. 745/2021 - Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 4th January, 2022.

The Teaching Council, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by sections 4 and 31 (as amended by section 10 of the Teaching Council (Amendment) Act 2015 (No. 31 of 2015)) of the Teaching Council Act 2001 (No. 8 of 2001) (as adapted by the Education and Skills (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020 ( S.I. No. 450 of 2020 )), with the consent of the Minister for Education, hereby makes the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021.

(2) The collective citation “the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2016 to 2021” includes these Regulations.

2. In these Regulations “Principal Regulations” means the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations ( S.I. No. 444 of 2016 ).

3. Regulation 3(1) (as amended by Regulation 3 of the Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 ( S.I. No. 269 of 2020 )) of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for the definition of “newly qualified teacher” or “NQT” the following:

“‘newly qualified teacher’ or ‘NQT’ means a teacher who meets the Council’s requirements in terms of qualification under Route 1, 2 or 4 of the Schedule but has not completed the required period of professional practice, including a teacher who obtained entry to the register through Route 5 of the Schedule and who has since successfully completed the accredited programme in teacher education in respect of which he or she was registered;”.

4. Regulation 10(1)(a) of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for clauses (iii) and (iv) the following clauses:

“(iii) further education;

(iv) other; or

(v) student teacher,”.

5. Regulation 11(2) of the Principal Regulations is amended by deleting “from the date that he or she is granted conditional registration”.

6. The Principal Regulations are amended by inserting after Regulation 11 the following Regulation:

“Conditions attaching to registration of student teachers

11A. Without prejudice to the Council’s entitlement to attach such additional conditions to the applicant’s registration as it considers appropriate a student teacher granted registration pursuant to Route 5 of the Schedule shall be registered subject to the following conditions:

(a) he or she shall remain as a registered student on the accredited programme in teacher education in respect of which he or she was registered, until the successful completion of that programme;

(b) he or she shall only engage in teaching on a substitute basis until the successful completion of the accredited programme in teacher education in respect of which he or she was registered;

(c) he or she shall participate fully in the accredited programme in teacher education in respect of which he or she was registered, until the successful completion of that programme;

(d) within a period of 3 years from the date of successful completion of the accredited programme in teacher education, he or she shall complete supervised professional practice, as set down by the Council.”.

7. The Principal Regulations are amended by inserting after Regulation 15 (as amended by Regulation 4 of the Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 ( S.I. No. 557 of 2016 )) the following Regulation:

“Requirements for renewal of registration through Route 5

15A. A teacher registered through Route 5 of the Schedule, shall not be entitled to have his or her registration renewed unless, at the date on which his or her registration is due for renewal—

(a) he or she has completed his or her qualification, such that he or she has met the qualification criteria for admission to the register referred to in another route of registration provided for in the Schedule, or

(b) he or she continues to be a registered student on an accredited programme in initial teacher education referred to in paragraph 1 of Route 1 or paragraph 1 of Route 2 of the Schedule.”.

8. The Schedule to the Principal Regulations (as amended by Regulation 3 of the Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 ( S.I. No. 266 of 2021 )) is amended by inserting after the provisions entitled “ROUTE 4: OTHER” the following:

“ROUTE 5: STUDENT TEACHERS

A person who applies to be entered on the register as a student teacher shall satisfy the Council that he or she is a registered student undertaking an undergraduate degree referred to in paragraph 1 of Route 1 or paragraph 1 of Route 2 and has successfully completed year two of that undergraduate degree.”.

The Minister for Education consents to, and approves of, the making of the foregoing Regulations.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Education,

21 December, 2021.

NORMA FOLEY,

Minister for Education.

GIVEN under the Seal of the Teaching Council

21 December, 2021

SEAN MCMAHON,

Chairperson

TOMÁS Ó RUAIRC

Director

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations amend the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2016 to enable the Teaching Council to register student teachers.

These Regulations may be cited as the Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021.