She is more of an all-rounder than Estelle Morris , a former teacher who looks like a girl guide but is as tough as an old blackboard and has done a good job of taking on the teachers' unions as a minister in the Department of Education and Employment.

ECONOMIST: The queue for the cabinet

But the push was also helped along by a deep recession that sapped other employment alternatives for teachers and forced the Department of Education to drastically reduce hiring people who are new to the profession.

WSJ: Data Shows Teachers Stay in Job Longer

The consultation follows a formal review, commissioned by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) and the Department of Education, of whether the scheme is meeting its original objectives.

BBC: Teenagers

The Department of Trade and Industry has kept control of business support services, and skills training has been kept by the Department for Education and Employment.

ECONOMIST: An England of regions | The

In a statement, the Department of Education said that classroom assistants were employees of the boards and issues regarding the terms and conditions of employment of staff were a matter for the boards.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | One-day strike at special school

Its chief executive, Colette Kelleher, was quoted by the Department for Education and Employment as welcoming the new standards because they would give "a real consistency of quality" across different establishments and across the country.

BBC: nursery

Administrators from Queen's University and the University of Ulster declared their desire for higher education to be reallocated to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) at a meeting of the employment and learning committee.

BBC: Employment and Learning Committee

Senior staff from Queen's University and the University of Ulster declared their desire for higher education to be reallocated to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) at a meeting of the employment and learning committee.

BBC: NI universities could be under two government departments