Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 January 2022
212. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the degree to which her Department continues to encourage interest in the arts at primary and secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2871/22]
View answerThe Creative Youth Plan was published by the government in 2017 as one of the five pillars of the Creative Ireland Programme. The Plan sets out a number of measures designed to enable the creative potential of every young person, both within the formal education system and in informal or community settings. While the Creative Youth Plan is wider than the arts, it embraces the arts as a mechanism through which children and young people can experience creativity.
The Plan is implemented by my Department in partnership with the Department of Education, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Arts Council. Significant progress on the delivery of its objectives has been achieved to date, which has included the roll-out of a number of schools-based initiatives.
Creative Schools, delivered by the Arts Council, has supported 652 schools to put arts and creativity at the heart of school life, through the development and implementation of their own creative plan, while strengthening the relationships between schools and the broader cultural and community infrastructure. Creative Clusters, delivered by my colleague Minister Foley, enables groups of up to five schools to collaborate on an innovative arts and creative project to address a common issue or challenge (299 schools to date). In 2021, Minister Foley announced a new initiative developed by the Department of Education, titled BLAST (Bringing Live Arts to Schools and Teachers), which will enable up to 489 new Arts-in-Education residencies in schools each year. Creative Youth has also provided funding support for 359 Creative Engagement grants operated by the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals.
Additionally, Creative Youth has seen my Department form partnerships to further enhance creative and artistic engagement in schools. Programmes include Junk Kouture, working with students around creativity, fashion and recycled materials and The Big Idea which, in partnership with the Institute of Designers in Ireland, works with students to address problems and issues through creative problem solving and design thinking.
Creative Youth supports Continuing Professional Development programmes for teachers at both primary and post-primary. While its focus is wider than arts, it encompasses the arts and endeavours to ensure that children and young people enjoy the benefits from participation and exposure to the arts and creative activities. To date, 5,670 teacher professional learning experiences have been funded for the Arts in Junior Cycle while 1,267 teacher CPD places (and artists’ residencies in schools) have been funded via the Teacher/Artist Partnership.
While my Department continues to support the Creative Youth initiatives referenced above in a collaborative manner across government, primary responsibility for engagement with the arts as part of the school curriculum rests with my colleague, Minister Foley.
