§ Mr. McCuskerTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why the Department of Education (NI) has introduced an annual bursary of £1,300 per annum for postgraduate teacher training courses in physis, chemistry and mathematics.
§ Dr. MawhinneyIn order to increase the supply of teachers in England and Wales trained to teach physics, chemistry, mathematics and craft, design and technology, a bursary scheme was introduced there in 1986 for all students studying for postgraduate certificates in education in these disciplines. This coincided with this year's relaxation of the embargo on awards to Northern Ireland students undertaking PGCE courses in Great Britain. There are no teacher shortages in Northern Ireland, but in the light of subsequent experience with the number and quality of applicants wishing to pursue these disciplines in local institutions, it became clear that there was a requirement for parity of incentive and it was therefore decided to introduce a parallel bursary scheme in Northern Ireland, thus ensuring the supply of appropriately trained teachers.
§ Mr. McCuskerTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for postgraduate certificate of education courses were received by Queen's university, Belfast, for courses commencing in 1986, 1987 and 1988; and how many of the places available were for teacher training courses in physics, chemistry and mathematics.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe information is as follows:—
1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 Total applications for PGCE courses 672 640 625 Places available for teacher training courses in: Physics 10 12 10 Chemistry 10 12 10 Mathematics 14 16 15