Is cúis athás dom bheith i láthar chun an óráid seo a thabairt, agus táim buíoch don Seanad agus do na Seanadóirí as ucht an deis seo a fháil. I am particularly pleased to be here to address the very important issue of literacy, a key ingredient in terms of the assault on educational disadvantage. During the course of my address I will outline some of the measures I outlined this morning at a press conference pertaining to educational disadvantage and the Government's plans arising out of additional resources allocated in yesterday's budget.
In modern society, in spite of the massive changes brought about by information and communication technologies, print continues to be the dominant medium of communications. It is imperative, therefore, that all members of society are equipped with the literacy skills necessary to cope with the demands of modern living. Low or insufficient literacy skills have profound social and economic consequences for an individual's family and community. Inadequate literacy and numeracy skills put an individual at a great disadvantage both socially and economically. They can engender a sense of marginalisation and a fear of being stigmatised if the problem becomes known to employers, family and friends. Improving people's literacy skills, therefore, is a high priority for me and the Department of Education and Science.
Before outlining the Department's policy interventions which are designed to improve the levels of literacy in society in general, I wish to set out some recent data which underpin these interventions and which give cause for considerable optimism in this regard. First, the House might wish to know that retention rates at second level have increased from 20 per cent in 1965 to approximately 64 per cent in 1985 and 82 per cent in 1998. Similarly, the rate of transfer from second level to third level has increased from 11 per cent in 1965 to 28 per cent in 1985 and 50 per cent in 1995, a figure which has been exceeded in 1998.
According to the 1991 census of population, only 13 per cent of the adult population had a third level qualification while almost 37 per cent of the population had not completed second level education. Thus, the participation rates in the education system likely to lead to high levels of literacy among the adult population are only now being reached. This improving level of involvement in education will undoubtedly impact positively on literacy standards in future, but it will be quite some time before education levels are such that the literacy potential of the majority of the population has been maximised.
Recent international comparative research would suggest that the Irish education system is currently performing well and that standards have improved considerably over the past 35 years. I could produce substantial data to support this statement, but let me focus in particular on a small set of data which illustrate this point very well. Trends in reading development monitored by Department of Education and Science surveys over the period 1970 to 1993 show that there was a significant improvement in reading standards in Ireland between 1970 and 1980. Thereafter, the trend leveled off. The results of the 1988 and 1993 surveys indicated that we maintained the 1980 level but did not significantly improve on it. An international survey carried out in 1991 by the
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement showed that nine year old Irish children were performing as well as or better than all but eight of 28 countries surveyed. Irish nine year old children achieved a slightly higher score than a similar population in England and Wales surveyed using the IEA test in 1996. This is the first time that Irish children achieved a higher score than British children in a comparative survey of reading ability.
The Third International Maths and Science Report — TIMMS — published in 1997 showed that Irish students are performing significantly above the international average at the fourth grade and at about the international average at the eighth grade. Thus, the achievement trend in international comparative research has been positive in the past few decades and the most recent indications are that the trend is continuing in the right direction.
An area of concern is the estimation that approximately 8 per cent of students leave primary school with low levels of literacy. However, low levels of literacy are also found in other developed countries in about 8-10 per cent of the population.
In dealing with literacy problems, it is necessary to adopt a two-pronged approach to intervention and remediation. We must direct our efforts to improving the literacy and numeracy skills of school leavers. At the same time we must tackle existing literacy problems among adults who did not benefit from the education system the first time around.
Within the primary and second level systems the Department has in place a wide range of strategies aimed at supporting children who are in danger of succumbing to low levels of literacy and/or numeracy and I would like to briefly outline some of these.
It is widely accepted that the key to solving literacy and numeracy problems is to tackle them as early as possible. For this reason the Department of Education and Science currently supports a number of programmes targeted at children in the pre-school age range. These programmes include the pilot Early Start Programme, which is targeted on children in schools designated as disadvantaged, special educational projects in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, and traveller pre-schools.
I have often restated my commitment to the whole area early education. I am persuaded by the international evidence which states, in particular, that such interventions can be of immense use in tackling issues relating to early school leaving. It is for this reason that, earlier this year, I hosted the National Forum for Early Childhood Education, the purpose of which was to bring together all those with an interest in this area so that they might exchange views and indeed advise me on future strategies in the area. I have received the report on the forum and officials in my Department have begun work on the development of a White Paper which will set out Government policy in this area.
In the interim, in the context of yesterday's budget, I announced that £1.2 million will be allocated for special initiatives on early childhood education in 1999 and 2000. It is intended that these will, in particular, focus on early education for children with disabilities. Schools designated as disadvantaged receive additional capitation payments and in many cases concessionary teaching resources. It is my intention and that of the Government to continue to target resources on such schools throughout the lifetime of the Government. In fact, in the context of yesterday's budget, I announced that an additional £2 million will be made available over the next two years to establish a schools development project. The aim is to encourage schools to develop their approaches to planning their teaching and learning strategies to meet the needs of students with particular needs, and specifically disadvantaged students.
One of the key findings of any special intervention in schools designated as disadvantaged, arising out of the breaking the cycle, youth start and other initiatives, is that giving funding and resources to school planning and in-service teaching for all teachers in disadvantaged schools can have a huge impact in terms of the strategy adopted by schools and its impact on children coping with disadvantage. School planning and in-service teaching for all teachers in disadvantaged schools can have a huge impact on the strategy the school adopts and on disadvantaged children. This is the first time dedicated funding is being put aside for the school planning approach to primary and second level schools that are designated as disadvantaged.
The purpose of the home-school community liaison scheme at both primary and secondary levels is to encourage closer links between homes and school with a view to enhancing participation in the education system. By any standards the scheme, which was introduced by Deputy O'Rourke when she was Minister for Education, has been an overwhelming success. I want to build on that success. I was not happy that the scheme was added to only intermittently. I pay tribute to the teachers involved, as they have adapted to this new role in an exceptional manner. The feedback from all sides has been very good. This morning I announced that I would be allocating additional posts to this service so that every designated disadvantaged school at primary and second level will have a home-school liaison service available to it.
There can be no doubt but that the longer a person remains in the education system the better his or her chances of success socially, economically and culturally, in later life. One of my main objectives as Minister for Education and Science, therefore, is to bring about a situation where more and more students spend longer and longer periods in the education system.
To this end, last year I launched a pilot initiative focused on students aged between eight and 15 years, who were at risk of leaving school early. The aim is to develop a range of initiatives, starting at primary level, which will identify and assist children in danger of leaving school early. This innovative programme is supported by the European Union, and over £3 million is being allocated to this pilot project over a two year period. My aim would be to build, in subsequent years, on the positive aspects which emerge from the pilot project. In the context of yesterday's budget, an additional £1.5 million will be made available over the next two years for retention initiatives in second level schools. This arises from research being carried out entirely within the Department on examination and second level data. We know exactly where retention rates are low, so we are now in a position to intervene in those areas. We will have specially targeted interventions where retention rates are low. This is to complete the upper secondary completion rate.
The curricula offered in Irish schools must develop in response to changing circumstances if they are to remain relevant, and if Irish students are to be able to make the choices which will enable them to lead satisfying lives in the changing economic and social circumstances which will face us all in the future. The provision of a range of curriculum options which addresses the needs of children who would not benefit from participation in the traditionally academically focused curriculum is an important part of any plan to facilitate retention in the education sector. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment — which will be placed on a statutory basis following the enactment of the Education Bill — advises me in this vital area. The council is currently coming to the end of a major review of the primary curriculum, which will place increased emphasis on literacy and numeracy at primary level. Implementation of the revised curriculum, which will be a huge undertaking for all concerned, will begin during 1999.
The restructuring of the curriculum at second level is also continuing. Included in the restructuring are the revision of syllabuses and the expansion of innovative programmes, such as the junior cycle schools programme, the leaving certificate applied programme and the leaving certificate vocational programme. A new junior certificate elementary programme has been introduced to cater for a small number of students whose learning needs are not adequately met by the current junior certificate. The leaving certificate applied and the leaving certificate vocational programmes are similarly focused on non-traditional subject and learning areas.
Early assessment is the key to early identification of difficulties which might lead to problems with numeracy and literacy later in the school career. It is with this in mind that I have committed myself to establishing a national educational psychological service. On taking office last year I immediately established a working group to advise me on matters connected with the establishment of such a service. The group reported in September last, and I and my officials are currently considering the best way of implementing the group's recommendations with a view to making an early psychological assessment a reality for all children who need such a service. The group reported that 30 additional psychologists per annum over the next five years would be required to reach the optimum level. In yesterday's budget I announced the funding to make those additional appointments this year, in 1999 and in 2000. We are on target to achieve the national educational psychological service with the requisite staff in the field.
The Department of Education and Science has in place an extensive system of remedial teaching to address the needs of children in primary and second level schools. These teachers are a particularly important resource in catering for children with less serious learning difficulties, generally in literacy and numeracy, by directly teaching individuals or small groups on a withdrawal basis.
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to ensuring that every primary school has access to a remedial service. In a move towards fulfilling this commitment, in September last I allocated an additional 60ex-quota remedial teaching posts to primary schools.
A total of 1,302 remedial teachers are now in place in primary schools and it is estimated that 91 per cent of all primary pupils have access to a remedial service. Meeting the needs of the remaining schools is not an easy task, given the very small size of some of the schools. However, conscious of their needs, in the context of yesterday's budget I announced this morning that additional posts and part-time posts will be allocated to schools in 1999, to ensure that all schools with a remedial need will have this need met from next September, both at primary and second level. The presence in the system, for the first time, of part-time posts will enable us to meet the remedial needs of very small schools flexibly.
In this context also I draw to the attention of the House another important initiative — the retention of teachers in second level schools who might otherwise be redeployed to provide increased remedial services. This will give a substantial increase in the remedial service and will be focused on pupils with particular needs. It is vitally important that the remedial resource should be used to best effect and deployed in line with evolving needs. To this end, a review of remedial education has recently been conducted on behalf of the Department by the Education Research Centre in Drumcondra. The report on this review has recently been presented to my Department and is currently being considered. The review will be immensely helpful in basing future advances in the remedial service on up to date research, on knowledge of precisely how the current remedial provision operates and on knowledge of precisely what progress has been made by pupils. It is important that we not only appoint extra people but that we have a good evaluation of how the service works in terms of impact and output.
To address more serious needs where they arise, I announced a major new initiative last month. This initiative provides the first ever automatic supports for many children with disabilities. The measures involved are aimed at ensuring that all children with a special educational need, irrespective of their location or disability, will receive the support they require to participate fully in the education system. The measures, which extend across the entire spectrum of special needs, will cost £8 million over the next two years, will deliver extra teaching and, most importantly, child care services to all special needs children whether in groups or in individual isolated settings.
The availability of books and reading material is vital for the development of literacy, a point which was highlighted in the International Education Association Reading Literacy Survey in 1992. In Ireland the survey found that four of the ten most important factors which differentiated between more effective and less effective schools in the teaching of reading related to the availability of books and reading materials. Research carried out in several countries has shown that voluntary reading as a leisure time activity among schoolgoing children is on the decline. This is not surprising given the popularity of television, videos and computer games. If high standards of reading literacy are to be achieved and maintained, children must have easy access to a wide range of books and reading material. It is also the case that technological advances have led to the expectation that libraries should provide other materials, such as videos, computer software and taped material, which are frequently used in teaching and learning situations in primary schools.
My Department operates a scheme through which it provides a per capita grant to the chief librarians of local authorities, based on the number of national school pupils enrolled in each local authority area. The local authority librarians use these grants to select, purchase and deliver books to primary schools. The primary schools in their turn provide a lending and reference service to pupils. Local authorities supplement, and in many cases exceed, the Department's grant in operating this scheme. In 1998 the total allocation to this scheme was £1 million approximately.
My Department also assisted in the distribution of vouchers to all primary school children earlier this year in connection with World Book Day on 23 April. World Book Day is about helping children to explore the pleasures of books and reading and underlining the importance of reading, for both learning and pleasure. In order to heighten awareness of the day, Irish publishers printed £1 book vouchers for each school child, and the Department of Education and Science distributed these vouchers to schools. Within the next ten days, I will announce details of a once-off special initiative in the area of literacy and schools which will cost £6.5 million. I am not in a position to go into the details of that scheme because we are fine tuning it, but it will be very significant in the context of this debate.
I have become increasingly aware of the scale of the problem of adult illiteracy. Inadequate literacy and numeracy skills put individual adults at a great disadvantage, socially and economically. Of all the disadvantages faced by people, problems with literacy can have the most profound effect in excluding individuals from participation in many walks of life.
In today's increasingly complex society, with the revolution in information technology and the need to constantly update one's knowledge and skills, people with poor literacy skills are in danger of being left behind, unable to take advantage of the job opportunities which their abilities otherwise merit. Not only does the individual lose out but society is deprived of the contribution they can make to its development.
Low levels of literacy will have a marked impact on competitiveness, particularly in the context of a falling young population in the years ahead, when the outflow of highly qualified young school leavers and graduates reduces in line with the falling birth rates during the 1980s.
As the House will be aware, a report in October 1997 on the findings for Ireland of an international adult literacy survey revealed a serious problem of functional illiteracy among Irish adults. Irish respondents performed comparatively poorly when compared to adults of other developed countries. Approximately 25 per cent of Irish adults between 16 and 65 years of age, about 500,000 people, had low levels of functional literacy. Many of those with low literacy skills were unaware of their deficiencies in this regard.
The main conclusion for the Department of Education and Science is that there is a significant literacy problem among Irish adults which must be addressed by effective policy measures. The Government is strongly committed to addressing and resolving the problems of adult illiteracy and promoting adult education in general. This commitment is reinforced in Partnership 2000 which points out that policy and strategy will give priority to a number of key goals, one of which is providing a continuum of education for adult and community groups, including second chance education.
Already there are links between literacy training and the vocational training opportunities scheme, the community employment schemes, FÁS and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, through its centres for the unemployed. I support the extension of the existing links in a range of different settings.
A number of particular initiatives bear testimony to the Governments commitment in this regard. The first of these was the appointment of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, as the first Minister of State ever with specific responsibility for adult education. The most recent initiative was the publication last month of the Green Paper "Adult Education in an Era of Lifelong Learning". The Green Paper provides a basis for the development of a policy framework for all aspects of adult education and recommends that priority be given to those who left the formal system without qualifications.
The development of adult literacy services is a prominent feature of the Green Paper. It will, therefore, be the subject of an extensive programme of consultations with a wide range of interest groups. Following this consultation process, a White Paper will be published which will set out Government policy in this most important area. In the interim, the Departments policy on literacy development is operated mainly through the adult literacy and community education schemes and, to a lesser extent, through Youthreach and VTOS.
An increase of £2 million — a doubling of the total fund — was provided in 1998 for adult literacy initiatives. A key objective is to use this investment to support the strategic development of a national adult literacy strategy. Following consultation with key interests, the additional funds have been allocated for a range of pilot actions which test models and innovative approaches which will inform future practice with regard to key objectives for the service. A key goal in this approach is to inform future practice, to identify and share the most successful strategies and systematically enhance the capacity of the system to address literacy needs.
At present, an estimated 5,000 adults participate in existing adult literacy programmes every year and this number is expected to double with the additional funds. A pilot literacy project through the medium of radio transmissions is also being funded by my Department. This enables adults to participate in literacy classes from the privacy of their own homes. If this pilot project is successful, the model has great potential for improving the quality and scope of the overall service, particularly for isolated rural dwellers.
An interdepartmental working group on literacy initiatives for the unemployed has been established to identify the strategies which are successful in targeting the unemployed, the barriers to their participation which need to be overcome and how these approaches can be incorporated systematically into the emerging literacy framework.
It might be worthwhile at this stage to mention two valuable initiatives launched last year. The first was the allocation of funding in 1998 and 1999 to enable vocational education committees to support child care for participants on Youthreach and VTOS programmes. The intention is to bring about a greater participation of women on these programmes by facilitating access to child care services. The second initiative is designed to enable educationally disadvantaged women to pursue lifelong learning education opportunities. Substantial funding is also being allocated over the 1998-9 period for this project.
It is clear, however, that much more needs to be done in the area of adult literacy provision and a start has been made. Following a substantial increase in the provision for adult education in 1998 to £4 million, I announced this morning as a result of the budget that an additional £3.2 million will be made available over the next two years in addition to the £4 million already allocated for adult literacy. The provision of this additional funding clearly indicates our commitment to place adult literacy at the centre of adult education.
It would be remiss of me to conclude today without mentioning, albeit briefly, the area of computer literacy and, in particular, the IT2000 project. It is important that, while focusing ourselves on improving the more traditional literacy skills of the population, we do not fail to acknowledge that computer literacy skills will be increasingly important in years to come.
The aim of IT2000, which involves a State investment of £40 million over three years, is to upgrade the level of computer literacy throughout the school system. The package is a balance between capital investment and the training and support of teachers and involves, inter alia, connecting every school to the Internet, ensuring that there are at least 60,000 multimedia computers in schools within the next three years and providing training to at least 20,000 teachers over the same period.
We will have exceeded these targets in two years and we will go well beyond them in terms of the numbers of teachers trained and the numbers of computers in schools. By December almost every school in the country will have been connected to the Internet, courtesy of Telecom Éireann. We are one of the few countries in the western world that can make that boast. It is a significant achievement and I wish to thank everyone involved, particularly the teacher unions for coming behind this national initiative for the benefit of the nation's children.
This is an integrated strategy which does not concentrate on one age group or level. It must operate from early education to third level and adult literacy programmes so that we can tackle the problem of illiteracy. I apologise for not being able to remain in the House for the duration of the discussion but the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, will take my place.
