Vol. 501 No. 5
135 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science the plans, if any, he has to review the CSPE syllabus in view of the lack of interest shown in the current syllabus by some students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6548/99]
The syllabus for civic, social and political education is different from other syllabi at second level in that it is concept based, not content based. Teachers and schools can concentrate on certain issues in the way in which they teach the syllabus. As a result I am not aware of any lack of interest shown in the current syllabus by some students.
Some 300 schools will present candidates for the CSPE examination in 1999 with the remaining schools participating in 2000. It was discovered that one school was not offering CSPE but this has been rectified. A support service of one national co-ordinator and six regional officers is provided by my Department to assist schools in this initial phase of CSPE. The feedback to the Department is that the introduction of CSPE is progressing very well.
