Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 October 2023
56. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education the progress to include Climate Action and Sustainable Development in the leaving certificate curriculum as part of the annexe of actions for the climate action plan; if there are plans to extend this to junior cycle and/or primary education; if there will be additional measures to support climate literacy through formal education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44986/23]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a key priority for myself and for the Department of Education and it’s aegis bodies. A 2nd National Strategy – ESD to 2030, was published in June 2022, co-sponsored by the Department, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
ESD aims to ensure that by 2030, all learners have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. ESD is a target in itself under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs - Target 4.7) and widely acknowledged as a key enabler for the achievement of all 17 SDGs including SDG 13 – Climate Change. ESD to 2030 contributes to delivery of the Climate Action Plan and SDG National Implementation Plan.
Much was achieved under the 1st ESD Strategy (2014 – 2020) including the integration of ESD themes and principles across the curriculum at all levels as identified in an Audit published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in 2018.
Climate Action (SDG 13) themes and principles are identified by the NCCA’s 2018 Audit in the following curricula: Primary History, Geography, Science and SPHE, Junior Cycle Business Studies, Home Economics, Science, History and CSPE and Leaving Certificate Agricultural Science, Geography and Politics and Society.
ESD has also been integrated into the assessment and inspection processes and into Initial Teacher Education (Céim) as a core element.
Under ESD to 2030, there are five priority areas for action, in line with UNESCO’s framework for ESD for 2030: Advancing Policy, Capacity Building of Educators, Transforming Learning Environments, Empowering and Mobilising Youth and Accelerating Local Level Action. An initial review is currently underway with a review report to June 2023 expected to be published before the end of 2023. Some of the achievements to date under ESD to 2030 by the Department of Education include:
- Funding of circa €1m for organisations and schools for projects supporting implementation of ESD to 2030 in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
- Publication of a Sustainability Toolkit for schools to support the development and adoption by schools of Sustainability Policy Statements as set out in the School Sector Climate Action Mandate
- A mapping of ESD related Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers
- Adoption of ESD to 2030 by UNESCO as Ireland’s Country Initiative for ESD for 2030 – one of only two countries in the Europe/ North America region to have achieved this
- Hosting a meeting of the EU Working Group for schools on learning for Sustainable Development in Kinsale in May 2023 – an opportunity for us to demonstrate some of the work underway in schools in Ireland on partnerships for sustainability to our EU colleagues.
- Appointment of the Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU) to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and a Youth Representative to the UN ECE Youth Platform for ESD, ensuring the student voice is at the centre of curriculum development and international discourse.
- The publication of a quarterly ESD newsletter, highlighting good practice across the education sector and sharing information and resources.
- An annual ESD Forum, providing an opportunity for key stakeholders to gather to network and discuss ESD.
Work on the integration of ESD themes and principles across the curriculum at all levels is continuing. In addition to the existing cross-curricular content on ESD, work is underway on the development of the new Leaving Certificate subject specification of Climate Action and Sustainable Development, which will be available in schools on phased basis from the 2025/26 school year.
A short course on Climate Action and Sustainable Development is available for Junior Cycle.
The Primary School Curriculum is currently being redeveloped. The Primary Curriculum Framework, launched on March 9th 2023, is strongly linked to the development and promotion of common European values and democratic citizenship. One of the seven key competencies is ‘Being an active citizen’. This competence includes helping children to question, critique, and understand what is happening in the world within a framework of human rights, equity, social justice, and sustainable development. It also raises awareness of global challenges such as climate change, conflict, and growing inequalities. There will be opportunities across the redeveloped primary curriculum for tangible teaching of citizenship education. One of the curriculum areas under development is Social and Environmental Education, helping children to develop an understanding of the human and natural environments and the relationship between them.
In addition, my Department is working with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (D.ECC) to support implementation of the National Dialogue on Climate Action, embedding climate action in education and promoting climate literacy and is represented on D.ECCs Citizen Engagement and Climate Literacy Taskforce.
Further information on ESD to 2030 is available on the webpage: gov.ie - National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland (www.gov.ie)
