§ 11. Mr. CarringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he has any proposals for changing the way teachers are trained in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. MawhinneyI do not intend to change the requirement that all courses of initial teacher training in Northern Ireland should meet the criteria of the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education which also apply in England and Wales. In line with my strategy for the promotion of education for mutual understanding in all sectors of education, I have however make it clear that I wish student teachers in the segregated colleges of education to have increased opportunities to meet each other, to undertake joint project work and to spend part of their professional training in cross-community school experience.