Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, is grateful for the opportunity to provide evidence to the committee.
QQI is the name of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland, established by the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012. Our activities fall into four categories, as follows. The first is the qualifications system. For example, we maintain the national framework of qualifications, NFQ, as a system relating different qualification levels to each other, and we advise on the recognition of foreign qualifications in Ireland and of Irish qualifications abroad. The second is quality assurance of education and training. For example, we issue quality assurance guidelines and monitor and review providers. The third is the QQI awards in which, for example, we set standards for QQI awards, in other words, qualifications, and we award qualifications and issue certificates. The fourth is engagement, insights and knowledge sharing. For example, we consult, inform and collaborate with national and international stakeholders, we conduct research and report on quality and qualifications in the tertiary education system and we develop enhancement initiatives and host events to learn from and share best practice with stakeholders.
Much of QQI’s work is independent of the field of learning. The exception to this is where QQI operates as an awarding body, which it does for further education and training and for private and independent providers of higher education.
Why are STEM disciplines important? Humankind’s survival depends critically on STEM disciplines. While non-STEM disciplines are important too, STEM disciplines are required to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face, such as global warming. The EU recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning has identified eight key competences, and one of these is STEM. In this context, we note that QQI, as an FET awarding body, is developing qualifications standards based on these key competences at NFQ levels 1 to 4 to guide developers of programmes of education and training leading to QQI awards at these levels.
We think basic STEM competence needs to be developed and supported from the early learning and care setting through to senior cycle and, where necessary, beyond. This does not mean teaching chemistry in preschool, but rather in developing and rewarding early learners’ curiosity, capacity to see patterns and analogues, and how these help us to predict things about the world, even where there is uncertainty. This is feasible because while STEM disciplines are extremely diverse, they are built on human traits that can be developed from a young age, namely, imagination, daring, curiosity, persistence, honesty, trust, openness, collaboration, a commitment to getting to the roots of things and, where appropriate, empiricism.
I will turn to certification, lifelong learning and the national framework of qualifications. Lifelong learning and change are already well embedded. With good educational foundations, some people can and do learn new skills without returning to formal education and without requiring further qualifications. Nevertheless, additional qualifications are sometimes necessary, and our national framework of qualifications provides the infrastructure for the creation not only of major awards, such as bachelor's degrees, but also minor, special purpose, supplemental and professional awards for lifelong learners, for example, micro-credentials.
The next point concerns access, progression and maths for STEM. Our universities and higher education institutions provide the primary educational formation for many STEM disciplines, and it is important that all members of society who could benefit from this formation can avail of it. The dominant route into higher education is via the leaving certificate. It may be useful to reflect on whether this route is overly dominant and consider further developing alternative pathways alongside it, such as those involving further education and training.
Higher leaving certificate mathematics, or equivalent, is required for some STEM programmes and, therefore, failure to achieve this type of qualification before leaving school can be an obstacle to progress. QQI established a maths for STEM qualification in 2014, which provides an opportunity for people to gain the mathematical foundations required for STEM programmes without having to go back to secondary school. However, the take-up of this qualification has been relatively low.
I next turn to STEM in the provision of education and training. Though probably not what was intended for discussion here, we think it is important to think about the potential of STEM to transform how education and training are provided and by whom.
ICT has already had a major impact on teaching, learning and assessment but we suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg, as recent media interest in artificial intelligence exemplifies. QQI will soon be consulting on draft statutory quality assurance guidelines for providers of programmes supported by digital education.
Many STEM disciplines are practical and lend themselves to being studied in the field rather than exclusively in the classroom or laboratory. Therefore, enterprise is key. QQI is planning the development of national quality assurance guidelines for work-integrated teaching, learning and assessment to help ensure learners get the most out of this kind of learning. It is noteworthy and fitting that there has been a renaissance of apprenticeship in Ireland in recent years.
I will comment on FET numbers. We classify the FET awards QQI makes using the international standard classification of education, ISCED, fields of education and training system. It is not a straightforward matter to identify whether an award is STEM from the ISCED code, but in the three ISCED fields most likely to involve STEM, the number of QQI major awards has decreased over the past decade and there is a substantial gender imbalance. This is in the context of an overall decrease in awards made in FET.
