Vol. 516 No. 2
139 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the work of a centre (details supplied); his views on the continuation of the arts in transition pilot programme being run by the centre; and if he will arrange to have a member appointed from the centre to the group being set up to look at the future of art education. [5930/00]
I am aware of the excellent work being done with transition year students in the arts in transition programme which has been run as a pilot programme by the West Cork Arts Centre since September 1997. The idea of bringing in practising artists to schools to talk about their careers and give hands-on workshops is innovative and enriching for all concerned. I know that to date 500 pupils and their teachers have benefited from the visits of 90 professional artists. I am particularly happy to know that such projects are further enriching the teaching and learning of the arts at a time when they are being given a higher profile in our mainstream curricula at first and second level.
