Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
528. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education the estimated full-year cost to the Exchequer associated with State funding for a practical programme of first-aid and CPR life-saving skills for all Leaving Certificate students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27537/23]
View answerThere are no plans at present to introduce First Aid into the Leaving Certificate curriculum. Accordingly, no costing exercises in relation to this have been carried out by my Department.
The curriculum in second level schools must meet an extensive range of needs in catering for the cognitive, emotional, imaginative, aesthetic, social, physical and moral development of students, and in preparing them for the demands of citizenship, lifelong learning and social and economic participation.
The Deputy may wish to note that at Junior Cycle, the curriculum is made up of a combination of full subjects and short courses. Some short courses will be designed centrally by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and others by schools themselves or other bodies, using the template provided by the NCCA. It is therefore open to a school or other bodies to develop a short course in first aid training, for use in schools. There are also opportunities within Transition Year in which a flexible menu of learning modules can be provided by schools within the context of a framework for the programme set out by the Department. As part of this, it is open to schools to provide first aid training if they wish to do so.
Schools are encouraged to engage with community groups and a wide range of stakeholders to provide for extra-curricular learning opportunities such as first-aid training or to give talks to students, although it should be noted that it is the policy of the Department of Education not to endorse any products or programmes produced by external parties for use in schools.
