asked the Minister for Education the specific strategies her Department have developed to eliminate sexism in education particularly in the area of subject choice.
Written Answers. - Elimination of Sexism in Education.
288.
It is the ongoing policy of the Department of Education to eliminate sexism and sex-stereotyping in the education sector. There is a working group which monitors and co-ordinates activities within the Department relating to equality of educational opportunity for girls and boys.
The need to avoid sexism and sex-stereotyping in schools continues to be stressed at in-service courses for teachers and school principals organised by the Department — a module on "Sexism and Sex-Stereotyping in Primary Education" was included in all in-service courses for primary teachers organised by inspectors in summer 1989. The matter is also generally raised at discussions with the principal and staff prior to submission by the inspector of a school report.
Issues relating to gender equity particularly in the area of subject choice continue to be covered generally on in-service courses for post-primary teachers as well as specific seminars and courses being organised in this area.
Principals, guidance teachers and teachers generally are encouraged by the inspectorate to offer all optional subjects to both boys and girls and, in particular, to offer and encourage girls to take up such subjects as physics, chemistry and technical subjects. Schools which do not have the full facilities for science or the specialist teachers required are encouraged to share facilities locally especially amongst small neighbouring schools. The Code of Good Practice produced by the EC was reproduced by the Department of Education and issued to all second level schools.
Guidelines for publishers on the need to avoid sexism and sex-stereotyping in school textbooks are issued by the Department and must be followed in order for a publisher to have a text book sanctioned for inclusion in the list of approved text books for use in primary schools.
A working group on the elimination of sexism and sex-stereotyping in textbooks and teaching materials were established in 1988 at primary level representative of the Department of Education, school management, the INTO and the National Parents' Council. Their terms of reference are to examine the level of sexism and sex-stereotyping in textbooks and teaching materials, to make recommendations for its elimination on a phased basis taking due account of the need for restraint in public expenditure and to monitor progress in the area. The working group have carried out an examination of guidelines for publishers in this area, have made a study of the course in conversational Irish and are also examining the research available on the topic of sexism in teaching materials. A proposal will be submitted to the equality committee in the Department of Education shortly.
A pilot project at the curriculum development centre in Shannon developed and piloted a four week course called "Familiarisation Course for Girls in relation to traditionally non-female occupations" which is aimed at 13-15 year old girls in single sex and mixed schools. The aim of the course was to get girls to re-examine their vocational ambitions and to look closely at their subject choices. A package suitable for use in schools was produced at the end of this project.
The vocational preparation and training programme introduced in 1984 aims to "expose all participants to the same range of occupational possibilities and training opportunities". It is felt that this requirement would contribute to the broadening of the occupational aspirations of girls by exposing them to a range of occupational experiences beyond those traditionally offered on existing secretarial courses. A video highlighting gender issues is currently being prepared.
Special measures have been taken to ensure that women are appointed to the selection boards for teachers and that the Code of Practice of the Employment Equality Agency in regard to interview procedures is put into effect. In so far as second level school appointments are concerned, the Department of Education have drawn the attention of school management to the code and indicated the Minister's support for it. Following proposals by a working party representative of the principal patrons of national schools, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation and the Department of Education, revised procedures for the selection and appointment of national teachers have been drawn up. In addition, in order to promote equality of opportunity for men and women candidates, guidelines laying down in detail how advertisements should be composed, how applications should be assessed and how interviews should be conducted have been prepared.
These procedures: (a) make it mandatory that selection boards include at least one woman and at least one man; (b) require selection boards to have regard to the provisions of the Employment Equality Act, 1977, and the Employment Equality Agency Code of Practice, 1983; and (c) provide that no question should be asked nor information sought in any form from a candidate which might be construed as being discriminatory on grounds of sex or marital status.
Both the Curriculum Review Body on the Primary Curriculum and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment as part of their remit are required to ensure that sexism and stereotyping be eliminated from curricula and that they work towards the implementation of gender equality in schools.
I am concerned that although more girls attend secondary schools than boys fewer of them take higher level mathematics and science subjects, with the exception of biology, and hence find it difficult to enter high skill level technical occupations. Encouragement is given to schools to provide and students to participate more in these subjects at post-primary level.
A brochure "OPTIONS" was produced and sent to all second level schools in the country. This brochure provides statistics on the take up by girls of honours mathematics/science subjects at both intermediate and leaving certificate levels, as well as information on the take up of non-traditional courses at third level. It provides information on trends in the labour market and encourages girls to choose their subject/training/career options very carefully in the light of current trends and to consider a wider range of options both at second and third level.
With a view to increasing the numbers of girls studying physics and chemistry a scheme of intervention projects was devised by the Department in 1985. The first of these projects was initiated in Naas, County Kildare in the school year 1985-86. In September 1986, the scheme was extended to include two further physics projects, in Longford and Dundalk, respectively, and a chemistry project in Dublin. Two further physics projects, one in Enniscorthy and one in Cork, were initiated in September 1987. In September 1988 the scheme was further expanded, with the inclusion of physics projects in Mayo, Galway and Kerry, respectively, and another chemistry project in Dublin. Six new projects have been established in September 1989.
The mechanism of the scheme has developed considerably with experience and it is now implemented as follows. An experienced teacher is selected by the Department and appointed to introduce physics or chemistry to a selected school in a particular region. The brief of this teacher, termed a visiting teacher is not only to introduce physics or chemistry as a subject in the project school but also to establish a tradition of the subject within the school and to foster an appreciation of the subject as an integral part of a modern curriculum.
In addition to expanding the curriculum of the project schools the visiting teachers provide a service to other girls' and co-educational schools in the region of their project school. In some cases teachers from these schools, known as associated schools, come to the project school and attend the visiting teacher's classes. In other instances the visiting teacher travels to the associated schools so that teachers are able to discuss their problems in relation to techniques in experimental work and new developments in their subject. This is a form of in-service training which the teachers involved are finding very valuable.
An action research project designed to stimulate the interest and encourage the participation of girls in school activities related to the new technologies was introduced in 1986-87. This project is still in operation. Four schools are involved representing the main kinds of second level schools. This project has been evaluated externally and the final report of the evaluator will be available shortly.
It is intended to disseminate this programme in 1989-90. A video of the programme has been produced. It is intended to produce materials based on those used in this project and to make them available to all teachers.
A special scheme of grants for mature women students is operated annually. Grants of £1,000 each are awarded to mature women students who have already completed at least one year of a higher level course and who are either unemployed or in poor financial circumstances — 15 such grants will be awarded for the academic year 1989-90.
Funding was provided in 1987 by the EC for a European Community poster competition. This was a new initiative of the European Community Action Programme to promote equal opportunities for girls and boys in Education and had, as its theme, "Equal Opportunities for girls and boys in Education". Travel prizes, consisting of a week's stay in Brussels, were awarded by the Commission to the four winning entrants from Ireland. They travelled to Brussels in September 1987 where they had an opportunity to meet prizewinners from Spain, Portugal and Greece. The EC has produced a brochure of the winning entries from the four countries. It is intended to circulate this to all schools.
In 1988-89 the EC undertook to cofinance with the Department of Education an action research project in the pre-and in-service training of teachers. The agencies co-operating with the Department of Education in the implementation of these projects are: (a) St. Patrick's College of Education, Drumcondra, Dublin, (b) Thomond College of Education, (c) Department of Education, University College, Dublin and (d) Teachers' Union of Ireland. Reports on the project have been made available both by the coordinator and by the external evaluator. This action research is continuing for the year 1989-90. An additional project has been added. The Institute of Guidance Counsellors will implement a project with guidance counsellors, as part of the action research.
A research project to examine aspects of gender equality in primary and post-primary education was commenced on 1 September 1989 by the Educational Research Centre, St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, at the request of the Department of Education.