EDUCATION minister Michelle McIlveen must act to make sure all new teachers are properly registered "as a matter of urgency", Sinn Féin and the SDLP have said.
Around 500 new teachers are still waiting to be registered by the General Teaching Council Northern Ireland (GTCNI), the BBC reported.
Teachers who want to work in a school must first have a registration number. Teachers pay an annual fee of £44 to be registered.
The GTCNI said there had been a backlog in processing applications due to problems beyond its control.
"Invoices for payment of registration fees are being issued this week (to newly qualified teachers who graduated from Northern Ireland higher education institutions) who will receive confirmation of registration once payment is made online," the GTCNI said.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said the delays were due to an IT upgrade within the GTCNI.
"We realise that this will be a source of concern for all of those who have worked so hard to qualify as teachers; and who will understandably be anxious to complete their registration and begin their careers within the profession," he said.
"This situation is deeply regrettable and the minister has instructed GTCNI to fix this as a matter of urgency and to review the recent changes in their IT systems to ensure that no other unforeseen problems have been introduced."
Sinn Féin's education spokesman Pat Sheehan said he had written to Ms McIlveen about the issue.
"Our newly qualified teachers need clarity, this needs to be resolved as quickly as possible to allow them to start their jobs as planned in the days and weeks ahead," he said.
SDLP education spokesman Daniel McCrossan said the GTCNI is "beyond repair".
"What’s worse is successive education ministers have been aware of the problems within the GTCNI and have failed to act decisively," he said.
