FOLLOWING their Low Week meeting, the Hierarchy of England and Wales have issued the following statement regarding the shortage of teachers: It is well known that for a number of reasons, including the introduction of a three-year course in training colleges, early marriage among women teachers and the tendency for pupils in secondary schools to undertake a five-year course, a shortage of teachers is now making itself felt throughout the country. This shortage is likely to become more serious, particularly after September 1962. The Ministry of Education hopes to provide at least a partial solution to this problem by encouraging married and retired teachers to return to teaching, if only on a part-time basis. This is a desirable thing provided married women are not encouraged to neglect their own domestic duties and the needs of their families.
Catholic schools will inevitably experience a similar shortage of teachers during the next two years. A vast programme of training college expansion is now in progress and it is hoped that this will ultimately meet the needs of our steadily growing Catholic population, It sometimes happens, for a variety of reasons, that Catholic teachers take posts in county schools or in other non-Catholic schools. We earnestly appeal to these teachers, particularly those who have been training in Catholic training colleges, to consider taking up posts in Catholic schools in order to help to meet our teacher shortage over the next two years. We urge Catholic university graduates wherever possible to seek to obtain posts in Catholic schools.