Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2015
873. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the investment that is planned for information and communications technology infrastructure, training and class delivery for national schools in the coming years in view of the growing importance of technical skills such as coding for education and employment opportunities. [20293/15]
View answerThe Digital Strategy for Schools will be finalised in the coming weeks and sets out an ambitious five plan to further embed ICT in teaching, learning and assessment. Under this Strategy the Department will identify a set of funding priorities annually over the lifetime of the Digital Strategy. The annual funding plans will take cognisance of the economic climate and the availability of public funds. Improvements to ICT infrastructure and more flexible forms of continuous professional development have been identified as priorities under the Strategy. The Strategy also recognises the importance of students developing 21st century skills and while coding is not a subject on the Primary School Curriculum, it is taught and used as an activity through which pupils can be enabled to develop a wide range of competences, some of which are specific to particular subjects (especially Mathematics) and some of which are applicable across the curriculum and outside of school.
