Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 January 2018
223. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will report on the progress to date of his Department's steering group that was set up to develop and oversee an implementation plan for leaving certificate computer science with a view to commence introduction in schools from September 2018; the group's findings in terms of cost of infrastructure and equipment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3269/18]
View answerI am delighted to be able to introduce Computer Science as a new optional Leaving Certificate subject. A Computer Science Steering Group, chaired by my Department, has met on six occasions to date and is overseeing an implementation plan for the new specification. 40 schools have been selected for Phase 1 implementation of the new subject from September of this year. My Department's Teacher Education support services will be working closely with these schools to prepare for the subject's introduction.
One of the aims of the phase 1 implementation of the subject will be to assist in ascertaining the likely typical costs in schools of introducing the subject, including infrastructure and equipment costs, as well as the requirement for physical space needed to accommodate students, computers and group work. At this stage it is known that there are likely to be some one-off IT network-related funding requirement for schools. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has also been identifying the likely minimum requirements for computers/laptops for implementation of the new specification, in terms, for example, of processor size, memory capacity and storage. It is expected that the details of these likely costs will crystallise over the period ahead.
