Vol. 501 No. 1
190 Mr. M. Brady asked the Minister for Education and Science if any C. S. Lewis literature is on the school curriculum; if not, the plans, if any, there are to introduce this in view of the fact 1998 was the centenary of the birth of C. S. Lewis. [5453/99]
For the junior certificate English examination, there are no prescribed texts. The syllabus states: "Teachers are free to choose the material they consider most suitable for their students' programme." However, a broad selection of texts and materials is outlined in the teachers' guidelines under the heading, "Suggested Resources". The suggested resources for first year include The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis. Teachers are free to use this or, indeed, any other work by C. S. Lewis which they deem appropriate to the students' level of maturity.
The current leaving certificate courses do not include any texts by C. S. Lewis. A new list of texts for the leaving certificate programme 2000-01 is in the course of preparation. The relevant course committee of the NCCA will meet in March 1999. The matter of inclusion of C. S. Lewis texts will be brought to its attention.
