I welcome the Minister to the Chamber.
Senior Cycle Reform: Statements
I am very pleased to be here to discuss the leaving certificate, and in particular the ambitious programme of reform involving senior cycle redevelopment, which I have recently announced will take place on an accelerated basis. Since my appointment as Minister, this House has always had a keen interest in education matters. That is why I was particularly pleased and happy to accept the Cathaoirleach’s invitation to be here early in the new term.
Each year over 60,000 students sit their leaving certificate examinations. Entering fifth year, students have a choice between three leaving certificate pathways: the leaving certificate established; the leaving certificate applied; and the leaving certificate vocational programme. In the round, there have been many positives to the senior cycle experience. It is well regarded both at home and abroad, which stands to students as they progress to further education or into the workforce. It is broad-based in nature, offering students a well-rounded experience. As we are aware, Irish students and graduates remain among the strongest performers in the world, something which has served us well as a nation. However, it is worth noting that even front-runners can be left behind if they do not strive for constant improvement and respond to new challenges. I fervently believe that the Irish education system must continue to innovate, improve and inspire. To this end, last spring I announced an ambitious programme of work for a reimagined senior cycle where the student is at the centre of their senior cycle experience.
In recent weeks, I announced a significant acceleration of the redevelopment programme enabling over 120,000 additional leaving certificate students to experience the benefits of senior cycle redevelopment sooner than otherwise would have been the case. As a result of this acceleration, beginning in 2025, students will be able to benefit from the fast-tracked roll-out of new subject curriculums, including biology, physics, chemistry and business studies, two years earlier than had been planned. This means the majority of students in third year today will see the benefits of our reforms. I say majority because almost 60% of those taking the leaving certificate examination sit the biology examination while over one third take the business studies examination. In these two subjects alone, thousands of students will very soon have a new senior cycle experience. These revised subjects will incorporate externally assessed components outside of traditional written exams. As a consequence, students will no longer sit 100% of their leaving certificate examinations in June of sixth year but instead will have at least 40% completed in advance separate from the traditional written exams, allowing them to showcase a variety of other student skills, talents and abilities.
Through these changes, I am broadening how our students are assessed, maximising their opportunity to demonstrate their skills and learning, ensuring that their experience reflects the challenges they will face in their lives beyond school and in the 21st century world, and bringing these changes forward by two years so that the maximum number of students will experience the benefits of these reforms as early as possible. The first tranche of updated curriculums will be rolled out nationwide in 2025.
Two new leaving certificate subjects - drama, film and theatre studies; and climate action and sustainable development - will be introduced as part of the first tranche in 2025, on a phased basis, through a network of schools in line with how we have introduced new subjects previously. We know from the experience of students who benefited from the introduction of physical education and computer science that when assessment methods are spread rather than concentrated in the traditional June examination period, we can have a positive influence on student experience. Changing the nature of assessment has a hugely positive impact on teaching and learning. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, will soon publish a schedule detailing the subsequent tranches of subjects. I have asked that it be published as quickly as possible. I expect that between the first tranche and the second tranche, which is to be introduced in 2026, virtually all leaving certificate subjects will by then have a second assessment component beyond the written examinations.
I am committed to the introduction of comprehensive revised assessment methods and approaches in senior cycle redevelopment. Equally, I am particularly conscious of the more recent accelerated evolution and growth in generative artificial intelligence, Al. I understand there is a need to explore the opportunities afforded by these developments in an educational context as well as the challenges they might present. With that in mind, I have asked the State Examinations Commission to commission research on the potential role and impact of generative Al in assessment. This research will consider the unique opportunities and challenges associated with Al in school-based assessment, and consider how to maximise the opportunities while mitigating the challenges. Last week, I attended the Council of Europe standing conference of education ministers in Strasbourg, where one of the very topics keenly discussed over a number of days was how to embrace Al in the world of education while armouring ourselves against its challenges.
While these changes represent the latest developments under this programme of senior cycle reform, other aspects of senior cycle redevelopment have been continuing since my announcement in March 2022. We have made considerable progress in implementing reforms.
For example, the NCCA is developing follow-on senior cycle modules for students progressing from level 1 and level 2 learning programmes at junior cycle level, which cater particularly for students with additional learning needs. These modules will be introduced from September 2024 and will provide a crucial continuation in learning for these students. Access to the leaving certificate applied and leaving certificate vocational programme has been broadened through senior cycle redevelopment. These are the first steps which will ultimately lead to a more integrated leaving certificate available to all students.
Work is currently under way to ensure that in future every student in every school who wishes to participate in transition year, TY, will be in a position to do so. A public consultation on a revised draft transition year programme statement is currently under way and the NCCA is in the process of engaging with schools, students and other stakeholders on this matter.
I appointed the senior cycle redevelopment programme delivery board to oversee the reform work and report regularly to me on its progress. The board was appointed in February and has held eight meetings since, most recently last Friday. I have also established the senior cycle redevelopment partners forum. This is a representative stakeholder engagement group which underpins the collaboration necessary to support implementation under the programme. It has its next meeting tomorrow.
Of course, in the midst of this ongoing reform, we must continue to operate our current system. With each passing year since 2020, we return to greater and greater degrees of normality. This year, more than 135,000 students combined sat the leaving certificate, leaving certificate applied and junior cycle examinations at over 800 post-primary schools and other venues across the country. Deferred examinations ensure that candidates who have experienced bereavement or major illness or injury have an opportunity to sit their exams at a time that is more optimal for them. The scheme for 2023 was provided on the same grounds as in 2022 but with a change this year that provided for the situation of a candidate who experienced an extreme medical emergency after they had commenced an examination.
The leaving certificate 2023 results issued on 25 August, a return to an August date for the first time since 2019. This is a further and significant step towards pre-pandemic norms. Within this timeline, a set of deferred examinations were held again this year, while the State Examinations Commission also implemented a post-marking adjustment. I made a commitment that there would be no “cliff edge” for this year’s students in relation to the leaving certificate results. For that reason, two forms of adjustments were made earlier this year. First, adjustments were made to exam assessment components themselves, including exam papers, and, second, a post-marking adjustment was applied to marks before the results were finalised. The post-marking adjustment has kept grades in the aggregate at the same level as last year.
In May of this year, I announced that the same adjustments to assessment arrangements that applied this year would apply to students in 2024. A decision has not yet been made in relation to the application of a post-marking adjustment in 2024. Consideration will be given to the matter by the Department in conjunction with the State Examinations Commission, with the aim of identifying solutions that are as fair as possible, given the circumstances.
The 2023 leaving certificate appeal results issued to candidates last Friday in time for incorporation into the final round of CAO offers, which I understand were made today. The State Examinations Commission has also confirmed that this year’s junior cycle results will be available to candidates from their schools on 18 October.
I know Senators always take a keen interest in education matters and I am very appreciative of that. I am pleased to be able to provide them with an update on this year’s exams, as well as the exciting and ambitious changes that will benefit our students in years to come as we deliver on their potential and our nation’s potential. The challenge for all of us is to deliver on that potential. As Minister, I am determined to deliver the changes that our young people need and, more importantly, deserve. In doing so, I rely on the partnership and trust of so many. I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity which has been afforded to me to work with excellent students, staff, parents and other leaders in the education sector, and the Members of this House, as public representatives.
I thank the Minister for an excellent opening statement. Lead spokespersons will have eight minutes and everyone else will have five. I call Senator O'Loughlin.
I thank the Minister for coming to the House so early in the term. To be here and to bear witness to the Minister's compassion, vision and ambition with regard to the leaving certificate and leaving certificate reform is great, and it is very important for all of us in the House to acknowledge this.
In speaking about acknowledgement, we all acknowledge that our education system plays a significant role in shaping the lives of our young people. It is essential that we constantly adapt to prepare pupils and students for the challenges of the modern world, which changes from year to year. When we think about what we have undergone in the last few years, with Covid, war and so many other things, it is important that we help to foster critical and independent thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills. We need a holistic education and one that not only focuses on academic excellence but also nurtures the personal and social development of our young people.
We can never say it enough, but as a party, we in Fianna Fáil are very proud of our record on education and our commitment to providing an education that is accessible to all, cherishes all of our children and individuals equally, and promotes inclusivity, equality of opportunity and lifelong learning, as well as advancing research and innovation. I commend the Minister on accelerating the key reforms to the senior cycle experience, which will benefit tens of thousands of Irish students who sit their leaving certificate examinations every year.
The reforms that the Minister has been talking about, for example, the introduction of non-exam-based components to all leaving certificate subjects, have to be very welcome in developing the holistic experience for young people. There is also the revitalisation of the transition year, TY, experience. Only three nights ago, I had the opportunity to visit a TY career experience in the Patrician Secondary School in Newbridge and the engagement was absolutely top-class. Our future is genuinely safe in the hands of the young men I met there, who are very excited about the opportunities that TY has to offer them. The development of a bespoke leaving certificate and pathway for students with special educational needs is very important, as is the better integration of opportunities for students taking leaving certificate applied and vocational programmes.
It is very exciting that in 2025, less than two years away, students will benefit from the earlier roll-out of nine new and revised subjects, including biology, physics, chemistry and business. We have to applaud the Minister for the fact this will happen two years earlier than previously planned. These transformative developments include the introduction of the two new senior cycle subjects of drama, film and theatre studies; and climate action and sustainable development. In the last mandate, as Chair of the education committee, I know that we spent quite some time on modules around leaving certificate reform. One of the things that Peter Hussey from Crooked House spoke passionately about was the need for young people to have the opportunity to learn drama and theatre studies at second level, which really gives lifelong skills in many areas. It is wonderful that this is happening.
Each aspect of this first tranche of new subject specifications will, of course, incorporate externally assessed components that are not the traditional written exam, and that they will be assessed is very important. There will, of course, be a second tranche of revised subjects in 2026, and I know there will be annual announcements in that regard.
The ambitious programme that the Minister set out in February 2022 for the redevelopment of the senior cycle, guided by the vision of a senior cycle that delivers equity and access for all, is well on the way. That announcement, of course, built on the NCCA senior cycle review but also built on the experience of leaving certificate students over the period of the pandemic.
We took the practical experience of our students during that period, and built on that to try to help to develop into the future what the Minister outlined, which is very important. Of course, there was a growing consensus. That particularly reflects the more active student voice in the debate. We cannot have the debate without that student voice. Something the Minister has sought in everything she has done is to make sure the voice of the student is always present, while learning from international experience and perspectives. The extensive engagement the Minister carried out with education stakeholders since the announcement is very important. She mentioned during her speech that the senior cycle redevelopment programme delivery board has already held eight meetings since February, and the fact that the senior cycle redevelopment partners forum is meeting tomorrow is very affirmative of the work she is doing.
On the reform and why we are having it, the introduction of the revised TY programme statement and the fact that every school will be resourced to offer this experience in future is very important. The support of these changes is also important because supporting change is important not just for students but teachers and boards of management, etc. We need to get buy-in from everybody in that regard.
I will mention the leaving certificate applied, LCA, leaving certificate vocational programmes. These have been ignored too often. It is very important that every young person has a chance to shine. The opportunity for students to access the LCA for different further education options is very important. This will be particularly facilitated in the area of maths, which is very important. The fact that the Department will work with employers and other interests to explore improved progression routes for those taking the LCA programme is, again, very important.
The Minister mentioned artificial intelligence. This is important because the rapid growth of AI has prompted significant consideration of the potential challenges and benefits posed by AI in education. It is important to note the Minister has asked for extra research on that.
I thank the Minister. We have to acknowledge the great work that is being done. We have to acknowledge the need to cater for the diverse talents and interests of students; she has done that in what she announced. We just have to create a generation of individuals who are not only well-educated but are fulfilled and motivated to succeed. The Minister acknowledged the importance of mental health and well-being in our education system in the context of the pilot project she announced last year. We have to foster a love of learning in our schools. She is doing that through all the improvements and additions she announced.
I welcome the Minister to the House. I will talk about the creative youth and Creative Ireland programme, and creative schools, as I have the opportunity to do so. The Creative Youth Plan 2023-2027 was launched this year. It includes a number of actions related to the senior cycle and the education system more generally, some of which I will highlight. I encourage the Minister to back her Department in support of that plan.
There are underlying issues with the current curriculum for senior cycle students. It can sometimes feel antiquated and sometimes does not address the needs of students and society. More generally, I am probably not alone in saying that I often have nightmares about the leaving cert. Post-primary education should be about much more than a CAO points race and a pathway to formal higher education. As Senator O'Loughlin alluded to, education should promote the education of the whole person. It should provide holistic education, which encourages and empowers everyone to flourish and reach their full potential according to their individual strengths. While the inclusion of greater external assessment and broader choice in the form of drama, film and theatre studies and climate action is welcome, there are other more root-and-branch reforms of the senior cycle we could look at.
I will talk about Creative Ireland. A key commitment in the creative youth plan is for the Department of Education to work closely with the NCCA to ensure that creativity will continue to have a central role in the new senior cycle curriculum. It is also worth highlighting that the creative youth plan is about ensuring enough school time and school space to enable educators, children and young people to embed creativity across all aspects of the formal education curriculum. We know that teachers and students are under time pressures. Often, we want them to address everything, which is simply not possible. I read the creative youth plan today. It outlines what the barriers to creative practice are in post-primary schools. These include a lack of time, curriculum overload, a lack of funding, a lack of awareness of creative initiative opportunities, and increased paperwork. These are things to bear in mind when embedding creativity in our schools. The creative youth plan is extremely ambitious. As a musician and someone who studied music in school, and always chose the practical subjects, I firmly believe in the power of this area. Much is to be done, with many responsibilities lying within the Department. I encourage the Minister to take it as a focus and to encourage her colleagues in the Department to do the same.
There can be no doubt that the Government must act to make education genuinely free and accessible to everyone. That begins with adequate funding and resourcing at a Government level. Budget 2024 should not be a missed opportunity in that regard. At the most basic level, we need our schools to get the funding they need and deserve. However, deep-rooted reforms of our education system are also necessary.
I thank the Minister for coming to the House and giving us time to speak on some of these issues. I appreciate her time and that of her colleagues from the Department.
I welcome the Minister to the House for this debate on senior cycle reform of the leaving certificate. Ireland ranks highly across the world in its educational attainment and the quality of education we deliver. We see this both at our post-primary, secondary school level but also at third level, which is fantastic. Ireland ranks high over the European average, even when it comes to qualifications at third level, in Europe and globally.
I welcome the Minister's objective to "innovate, improve, and inspire". The Minister noted that from September 2025 young people and students going into fifth year will be able to avail of this brand-new reform of the leaving cert, which will include up to 120,000 additional students. It is critical that what we see in leaving certificate reform is to get away from the pressure of CAO points driving pressure on students and parents. That is the Minister's goal as well. Her statement referenced "externally-assessed components outside of ... written exams". The State Examinations Commission will of course review that. It does wonderful work that is particularly pressurised around the time of the leaving certificate and so on. What does the Minister potentially envisage as regards externally-assessed components? I take it that means continuous assessment, and perhaps over the two years will include both fifth year and leaving certificate. Will this include essays and lab work? How does she see that working? Will it be online? How will it be streamlined for the State Examinations Commission? Are we looking at additional staff for that body? What sort of systems can we put in place there to assist with this development we will be looking at in two years' time?
The new subjects, including climate action and drama and theatre studies, are very welcome.
We have our own town hall, a great musical society and a town band in Ballinasloe so that will be welcome across both Roscommon and Galway. Climate action is, of course, on every young person's mind, particularly with everything they see in the news every single evening. The Minister also mentioned PE and computer science, one of the more recently added subjects.
The engagement with all stakeholders the Minister has referenced is very welcome. She included the student voice, particularly during the Covid pandemic. I hope that will be part of her engagement with stakeholders going forward. I would very much welcome such engagement and engagement with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
My colleague in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, noted the very important forum put together with the Minister and her Department, the senior cycle redevelopment partners forum. The goal was to reduce points pressure under the CAO system but it was also to look at all of these pathways for young people once they complete their leaving certificate. The apprenticeship programme and further education courses should be available on the CAO website.
Does the Minister have any thoughts on career guidance in our secondary schools with these new subjects and continuous assessment coming on stream? Are there ways we can work with our young students and get them to think about those placement programmes, perhaps in the new transition year the Minister may be looking at?
It was very welcome to have the results in August. Students will have been delighted with that. With the senior cycle reform the Minister is delivering in the Department of Education, we are going to deliver a great deal of choice to our young people. It is going to be flexible and assessment will not all hinge on the outcome of one day of written exams after two years of work. It means that students of all abilities will be able to give their all. Students, our young people, are ready, and we want them to be ready, to explore and discover the world, to take up their career of choice and to do what best suits them, their abilities, their skills and their talent. That can be achieved in many ways. It is about supports. Sometimes, it is about engagement with the parents on how we want to see their children succeed in life and what success looks like for our young people. That is really important. Sometimes, engagement with parents, the National Parents Council and boards of management, as well as with our young people, is required. As the Minister has stated before, there are many stakeholders involved in this.
Our students are the leaders of the future and will be taking active roles in our society. They will be sitting in the Cathaoirleach's chair in a few years' time. They will be able to take on these challenges. They will have the knowledge, the skills and the problem-solving abilities that we and the Minister's Department will be able to give them. They will be able to take on apprenticeships and further and higher education. They will be able to take a year out if they need to before, it is to be hoped, deciding what they want to do with their lives going forward.
The Minister spoke about how seven subjects, including biology, physics, chemistry and business, will have non-exam assessment elements. From what she has said, I believe this will involve essays and project work. The importance of this cannot be underestimated. An idea and practice has been built up around grinds schools and private education preparing students for the leaving certificate exams. It is very important to acknowledge that the external continuous assessment component through the SEC will really evaluate a student's ability and potential over those two years.
I will take this opportunity, if I may, to briefly raise some of the challenges I see locally in the Ballinasloe area. The Minister may be aware of them. Her office has been very good. There is an issue I have raised with her office this week and in a Seanad Commencement debate last week. The challenge in Ballinasloe relates to primary school capacity. The Minister has been very supportive of our brand-new school, Scoil an Chroí Naofa. We spoke about it the very first time I was in the Seanad. We have planning permission approved, which is absolutely wonderful, but it is going to take three years to build. Our second primary school has had two additional classrooms delivered this summer through the additional accommodation unit. That is absolutely wonderful but we are running to stand still. Those two schools still have waiting lists in spite of these developments, some of which will take three years to deliver. There is concern and strain. The Minister has visited Ballinasloe. She came to visit St. Teresa's Special School in the town. Now is the time, if possible, to meet with the school planning unit in the Department of Education and with some of the school principals and educational welfare officers who have come to me with serious concerns. I would love to work with these groups, with the Minister and with the Department to see how we can put a plan in place for September of next year. We have great new additional housing in Ballinasloe. We will be welcoming new families but our services as regards primary school capacity are very challenged. I invite the Minister to visit Ballinasloe again. She would be very welcome. If possible, it would also be great if she could meet these groups in Dublin. I thank the Minister for her time and support.
The Minister is very welcome here today. Her timing on this announcement has been very helpful. She will agree that there was concern that progress on leaving certificate reform was lagging. This is a good step forward. It gives confidence that we do not see the leaving certificate as both journey and destination with regard to who a student becomes, an all-or-nothing approach.
One of the questions I have been asked relates to junior certificate reform. We are nine years in and, out of the two classroom-based assessments, CBAs, and one project worth 10% that will form part of junior certificate reform, students are only doing one CBA. How will that impact students' ability to transition to the new leaving certificate programme?
If there has been lost education and if it is impacting the Minister's decisions regarding adjustments to the leaving certificate, will it still feature in her decision making regarding this year's leaving certificate if it continues? I ask that because I know the Minister feels that, by adjusting the leaving certificate marks, she can put things at the same level as last year and not disadvantage students. Of course, it severely affected students in the North who did face that cliff edge this year and who are already at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing education in the South. I am not sure if the Minister is aware but a report was recently done by the Economic and Social Research Institute that showed that only 2.4% of students go from Ireland to Northern Ireland for third level education and only 0.6% move from Northern Ireland to Ireland, a number that is decreasing year on year. That is a major issue because the best way to build a shared island is naturally through people meeting each other and getting to know each other. That is just not happening enough. A major issue is that students in the North would be expected to do four A levels when three is the standard. It is like asking students in the South to take on eight leaving certificate subjects instead of six. It is just not realistic for students who are under pressure. I am raising that with the Minister, Deputy Harris, as well.
While I am here, I will mention teacher shortages. I spoke to teachers over the summer. There is an idea that working abroad, including in the Gulf states, is very attractive compared with staying in Ireland when the truth is that it is not. Many teachers are living far away from what our perception of living abroad is. They are living in the desert. They are very far away from cities and life. Their community involves other teachers in the same position. When I ask them what the biggest barrier is, they tell me it is getting accommodation. I am one of those who is in favour of a subsidy for teachers who are living in Dublin because teacher shortages are a major issue in our primary and secondary schools and bolder thinking is required with regard to accommodation.
I have another question for the Minister. Could the option to work an additional 35 hours a year in secondary schools be extended to other schools where teachers are working 22 hours or even to schools that share the same patron? I am on the board of management of a school.
We feel that it would help us if there were another Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education & Training Board, DDLETB, scheme as we could perhaps bring in teachers from that school and avail of the change that the Minister made to address teacher shortages.
My next question is on schoolbooks. The schoolbook initiative for primary school students is very much welcome. Perhaps the initiative could be extended to secondary school students and announced in the budget. In fact, the idea has formed part of the budget debates. One teacher asked me if the initiative was at the expense of ICT funding; they felt that it was and now operates with a deficit.
I wish to ask one last question even though I have used up my five minutes but we are not killed in here by having a number of people waiting to speak.
Rules are rules, Senator.
The Acting Chairperson knows I dearly love rules but I want to ask about school builds. The feedback that I have got from numerous schools is that there is a shortage of modular buildings and, when it comes to bricks and building extensions, we could be waiting between three to five years. Is that the case? Dublin West has two new schools but we have a lot of other projects that are either on the way or are desperately needed and that would really help in engagement with schools.
As there are no more contributors I call on the Minister to reply and the good news is that she has until 7 o'clock.
I thank the Acting Chairperson and Senators. Again, I appreciate the invitation and opportunity to be here. I am very appreciative of the very positive and worthwhile engagement that always comes my way from all the Senators here and I know their absolute commitment to matters of education, which are close to their hearts.
The education system, including teachers, students, parents and the sector's agencies continue to respond positively to new and evolving challenges. I am confident that progress is continuing towards returning to normality and ensuring that a student-centred approach for meeting existing and new challenges is very much on the way.
During the pandemic students, teachers and families faced uncertainty about State examinations. However, we are coming out on the other side and, as I have previously outlined, we are more and more returning to pre-Covid circumstances or standards.
I appreciate the specific questions that the Senators have raised here today. I thank Senator O'Loughlin who engages with me on an ongoing basis on matters concerning education. I am very happy to hear of her engagement, particularly with the Patrician Secondary School in Newbridge, because I do think that students are always going to be our best ambassadors for whatever programmes or initiatives are in our schools. I am really charmed to think that the Senator was impressed by the transition year students in PSS and their forthrightness, ability to lead and be at the front showcasing all that happens in transition year. I welcome that and congratulate the students on their efforts.
The Senator raised issues around young people with additional needs and emphasised the great importance that must be attached to ensuring they have appropriate transitions whether that is from junior cycle to senior cycle, which we are working on as part of senior cycle reform. Equally, I believe that we need to go beyond that in terms of having pathways towards work and other education opportunities, and we have pilot schemes for a number of those initiatives. It is very important that young people are supported in making the right and appropriate choices to meet their own needs whether it is further education or going out into the world of work. We will learn a great deal from the various pilot schemes.
I acknowledge the Senator's welcome for the new subjects, including the arts which are important as well. It is about equity, excellence, accessibility and ensuring that every young person can see themselves in the curricula that we offer. I thank her for her ongoing engagement.
The Senator specifically referenced AI. I was in Strasbourg last week for a couple of days. I found it really interesting to engage with other Ministers for education and hear their take on what I believe will be an enormous opportunity for the world of education in terms of AI. Equally, I believe that AI will pose challenges and it is important that all of us learn how to arm ourselves against those challenges but work in collaboration. I am very happy to work with colleague Ministers. It is also important that the unique experience of the Irish education system would be researched too so I am very pleased that the State Examinations Commission will undertake that body of work as it will inform where we are going forward.
In the interim it is important that we drive on with senior cycle reform. We could have made a decision to sit on our hands and pause everything because of the advent of AI. As I thought that would have done a disservice to students so we took the decision, and I announced last week, that we were accelerating senior cycle reform by 2025. Now we will have more than 120 students availing of a reformed senior cycle two years earlier and that is for the benefit of students. We are only motivated in education by one thing and that is to benefit students. We want to enhance their capabilities, opportunities to maximise their talents and ensure that the world of education serves them. By moving ahead with senior cycle reform we are very much in that space.
I welcome Senator Warfield's contribution. I am an enormous supporter of the arts and I acknowledge his ongoing commitment to the arts. He has consistently raised this issue. I am hugely supportive of the vision and he referenced the creative youth plan. It is extremely important that the arts are embedded not just within senior cycle but in the ongoing experience throughout schools.
I hear what the Senator said about all the additional asks being put on staff in schools and everything else. One of the programmes that I was very pleased to introduce is the Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers, BLAST, programme, which brings live or local artists into schools. It is important that students meet living artists whether they are in the world of music or dance, or potters, seamstresses or whatever. It is important that the artists are of the community so students can identify with them and skills can be shared. We must ensure that the burden is not placed on the existing staff within the school to find that talent or resource. It is a case of the talent being in the community so we need to draw on the community.
The Senator is right to mention that we have creative schools and clusters, which shows we are increasingly embedding the arts into the system and supporting the system. For example, I know that he will be very pleased with the introduction of the new subject area of drama, film and theatre studies. For too long I have felt, and I refer to my own experience, that students do not see their talents getting an opportunity to shine in the curricula. Therefore, I believe that the student who is talented in music or the world of drama is as valuable as the student who has an equal talent in physics, English, French or whatever the case might be. Subjects should be of equal merit across the system and that will happen with the introduction of the new subjects. Creative pursuits are very much on our agenda. I assure the Senator that we will continue to focus on that and I am very happy to get back to him if he wishes to raise specific issues about creativity.
I thank Senator Dolan and I am very appreciative of her ongoing engagement with me. On her views about assessed components and what they will look like, this is a matter for the State Examinations Commission and I will not pre-empt them but I think the idea is in the main and in the round as opposed to being specific. I am very confident that there will always be a place for the written exam but there must also be a place for other types of skills. For example, a student might be able to craft or create an animation. Many students may be very good at recording on paper how to run an experiment although they might not be able to conduct the experiment or the other way around. I think the student who can conduct the experience has very valuable skills and it should be the skill that he or she has gained. In that area we are looking at widening the type of additional assessment but that will be the sole responsibility of the State Examinations Commission.
The Senator referenced the importance of the student voice and there is absolutely no doubt about that. I am very proud to say that over the past three years we have made enormous strides in terms of the student voice. The students now sit around the decision-making table with all of the other partners. That has not happened before in the Department of Education. Students now sit on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and never before in the history of the NCCA has that happened.
A new wing has been constituted within my Department, under the leadership of Professor Landy who is working with students and the Department so that all of our policies and statements are student proofed and that students are at the centre of it all. We have brought new initiatives to the fore, for example the anti-bullying initiative which was a comprehensive document and at its centre was a myriad of focus group engagements with students, some of which I attended. If you want to know what is wrong with the system and how to fix it, then you should go to those who receive the system, and that is the student body. I was blown away by how articulate, invested and honest the students were. It is not before time that the Department recognised this. As a teacher, I always recognised it. When you give students opportunities to shine and to be the best, they will take the opportunities. The trick is to make sure they get the opportunity. Increasingly, we are working to ensure that the student's voice is at the centre of all that we do.
On the transition year, TY, experience and the taster programmes that we are hoping to introduce, as Senator O'Loughlin referenced, it is important for all students to have the opportunity if they wish to involve themselves in TY. It is also important that they have apprenticeship opportunities. We are working on that and the policy statement will be in place for September 2024. In regard to the engagement with the widest range of people, I assure Members that around the table there are parents, students and staff so that it is the widest representation. In terms of the specific challenges in Ballinasloe, I am very fond of Ballinasloe and I had a happy visit there; the Senator will have to leave that with me and I will revert on it. I have fond memories of my visits there. Excellence is delivered every single day. I can work with the Senator in that regard.
I like how Senator Currie positioned the issue that education should be about the journey as much as the destination. I agree 100% with that. She referenced the junior cycle forum and where we are on that. There are conflicting views around the CBAs and how many CBAs there should be. Currently there is one. The important thing is that however many there are, they are to the benefit to the student. During Covid-19 some accommodations were made. Ultimately it must be about what benefits the student and the student’s learning. I have no issues with the accommodations we have made here and how they will impact and shine a light on senior cycle reform. We can see more and more that in terms of senior cycle reform and redevelopment we are leaning on much of the learning we had from the junior cycle reform. I have no issues there.
In regard to when we will get back to pre-Covid and the adjustments in that area e have begun that process this year. Last year, for the previous set-up, leaving certificate students in 2022, there were two sets of adjustments on the examination papers. That was reduced this year to one set of adjustments. Bit by bit we are moving back and we have to move back. I acknowledge that other jurisdictions have done things differently. Other jurisdictions also did things differently during Covid but we can stand proudly over how we managed the education system during Covid in terms of how our students and our staff in the first instance showed enormous flexibility to ensure that education continued to be delivered. Equally, where we had the opportunity, for example during Covid, we provided an opportunity where there were the accredited grades and also opportunities for students to lean on the accredited grades and also to sit the exams. I do not believe any other jurisdiction managed to achieve that for students, so that they had the opportunity to take written exams and the other opportunity as well. We are mindful of the need to return and we are doing that, step by step.
In regard to the Dublin allowance, this has been consistently debated over the last while. I have always been open enough to say that everything can be on the table and we have introduced a suite of different measures around teacher supply. The Senator referred to others also but in terms of the Dublin allowance, I would make two points. That is born very much from the London allowance. Comparatively, whatever the salary would be in London, the present salary in Ireland matches what is available in London, including the London allowance. Secondly, it appears not to have solved the situation in London. I say that in passing. It is just an observation. Finally, on that point, it would not be unique to school community staff. In the interests of fairness it would have to impact others, whether it is members of An Garda Síochána, those in healthcare or whatever. Notwithstanding all of that, we are prepared to look at everything, but we have to be mindful of where we stand with it as well.
I am glad the issue of school books at primary school was raised. To be fair, I acknowledge the work that has been done on the ground in the schools to make this operational and to ensure it would work. I have seen it at first hand. I met them over the summer as they got the books and prepared them. I acknowledge that the staff in schools have been the flag-bearers for this programme, they have made it work. I want to be 100% clear, it has nothing to do with the ICT funding. ICT funding was made available on the double to schools over two years. They had double allocations over two years. A significant amount of funding has gone into schools. There is no relationship between the two, and it is significant that over two years we managed to give double allocations in terms of ICT; that is not to say that there will not be funding coming forward in the future for ICT as well.
Finally, regarding the point raised on one of the schemes brought in at post-primary level whereby teachers, if they wished, can work additional hours, and the point made that maybe those additional hours could be shared with another school if there was a cohort of schools either within the area or if there was an umbrella of schools, I am happy to look at that. We also have a teacher share scheme. For example, within the local schools or within an ETB set up, teachers could be shared in cases where the subject was causing difficulty. The timetables might be worked so that the teacher could be two-and-a-half days in each school in a teacher share scheme.
There are already 22 of those.
Yes, that is one type of scheme that operates. Specifically, the Senator is talking about those who have the additional hours if they wish to work them, that they could be shared. I am happy to look at that with other measures.
In conclusion, I thank Members for the courtesy, as always, that I receive here and for their ongoing interest in all matters to do with education.
I thank the Minister.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar athló ar 6.27 p.m. go dtí 10.30 a.m., Dé Céadaoin, an 4 Deireadh Fómhair 2023.
The Seanad adjourned at 6.27 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 4 October 2023.