I welcome the Minister and invite him to make his opening statement.
Action Plan for Education: Statements
I thank Senators for scheduling this debate. As they can imagine, I am very keen to put forward the case that education is absolutely pivotal to our future challenges. The Government has set two main challenges. I think we all see two main challenges. One is how to sustain the progress to reach full employment, which is very important if we are to be able to say every person who wants to work will be able to have access to a job that will support his or her ambition. The second is our desire to ensure we have a fair society and, in particular, that we break cycles of disadvantage. If one thinks about these two goals for any length of time and steps back from them, one will see that education is pivotal to both. We cannot have a sustainable full-employment economy without massive investment in the talent that will support it. I previously had the job of Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and if one talks to any employer about the challenges he or she faces now, it is, as he or she would describe it, a war for talent. Employers must also be drivers of innovation within their businesses. They must do things in a different way if they are to succeed in entering new markets. This is particularly so after the decision of the British people to exit the European Union, when we are now faced with the need to diversify and be innovative in our markets. We also need to be able to fill skills gaps as they emerge. We need to be able to support entrepreneurship. Two out of every three jobs come from companies within the first five years of their lives.
At the heart of an awful lot of the talent drive that fuels enterprise is the education system. Equally, if one considers the challenge of creating a fair society, anyone will see that the key to resolving cycles of disadvantage will be built around education. We have so often seen that in some schools, a teacher can predict that a certain child will not progress, that instead of progressing to higher education, a good job or an apprenticeship, he or she is destined for something different and will face into difficulties in his or her life. Education is the key that can break down these barriers and open up new opportunities. Education is the key that can help young people to develop the personal resilience to deal with many of the stresses faced in later life. Education is the key to setting out pathways that allow people who perhaps did not succeed the first time around in their education to find their way back and through to traineeships, apprenticeships and so on.
On both core objectives that we have set, education is the key. The challenge for me and others is to set out a strategic vision for the country that can win the support of the community for investment in education. That is exactly what the action plan for education is all about. It has a strategic vision that, within ten years, we would become the best education service in Europe. That is a bold ambition, but it is a realistic one because across many areas we are already very strong performers. Many rank our education system as it is among the first five or six in Europe. In areas such as literacy we do very well but not quite so well in mathematics or science. We have the highest rate in Europe of enrolment in the so-called STEM subjects in our universities. We have the highest rate in Europe of participation in third level. We have one of the best performances in research and the capacity to turn our investment in research into genuine innovation that changes things. We are, therefore, strong in many dimensions, but we are weak in many others. For example, lifelong learning is an area which we need to consider and in which we are weak. We are one of the laggards in Europe for making sure people who are in work continually renew their skills.
We need to close the gap between disadvantaged schools and other schools, but it is fair to say the DEIS scheme has been very successful. The drop-out rate has fallen sharply. It was 32% just a few years ago in 2001. It has now come down very significantly, despite all the difficulties, to just 18% and we need to sustain that progress. That is why we have created an action plan for education. We also built on my experience in the enterprise. Education is a complex Department. It has many individual strategies and it is very important to integrate that series of strategies with some shared goals that would apply at all levels - first, second, third and fourth levels - and to make sure we are implementing them appropriately, setting the right priorities to achieve the high level goals.
The goals are ones that I hope will lend themselves to the Seanad. They are built around, first, reducing the level of disadvantage and making sure those who come to the education system with a disadvantage progress. That is measured in progression to third level or apprenticeship or traineeship, in a lower still drop-out rate and in improved relative standards in literacy and other tests compared to mainstream schools that are not in the disadvantaged programme.
The second goal is the enrichment of the learning experience for every pupil. Undoubtedly, everyone can recognise that as our environment becomes more complex, we need to respond with wider subject choices.
It is important that we introduce coding in schools and adopt digital technology, not only to expose young people to its power but also to integrate it into teaching methodologies in order that it enlivens and enriches education and teaching methods. This is at the core of the junior certificate cycle.
We need to see a broadening of the skills that are recognised and valued in the education system to take the shackles off teaching and learning. We are too concentrated on the terminal examination which has been a deadening influence, particularly in some of the subjects that are important for the future such as science. This is, appropriately, a very important second theme.
A third theme is focused on schools and ensuring we provide the supports to allow them to continuously improve. There is no doubt that the key to success lies in the leadership and teaching methodologies that are applied by staff in schools and the culture that is developed. We need to invest more in building strong leadership. Initiatives are already emerging to strengthen the leadership capability of schools. This was part of the recent agreement reached between the Department and the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, and the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, to deliver improvements. There are many other ways in which we can support innovation in schools, including in terms of a capacity for self-evaluation and peer learning and mainstreaming what is working elsewhere.
The fourth stream we have set out is the need to build stronger links between education and the wider community. Visiting the north inner city of Dublin with the Taoiseach recently, it was clear that while children had a good and safe environment until 4 p.m., success within schools very much depended on what happened after school and what supports were available in the wider community when children went home from school. We need to find ways of building bridges with community supports such as clubs.
With regard to our desire to provide the skills and talent of the future, there is evidence to show that if students are given the opportunity to participate in a work placement during their study, they have 24% better outcomes in terms of employment and income. We must build much stronger bridges with employers. Some colleges make this a core element, but it must be extended. The relationship or partnership, if one likes, between parents and schools must be valued more. We are committed to developing a parents charter to allow this relationship to become more of a genuine partnership involving mutual respect on both sides.
As to the final element, as a national Department with a number of national agencies, we must also aspire to best international practice. We must examine whether the continuous professional development we offer teachers and our methods of inspection, support and innovation reflect international best practice. The national agencies face the challenge of ensuring they are creating the framework within which schools can achieve high levels of performance. Criticisms have been made of the Department's approach, with some arguing that we should not set such high ambitions and that we should be content to be just good. I do not agree with that view. By saying we want to be the best in Europe, we change the conversation, the questions we ask of ourselves and our performance, whether in terms of children with a disadvantage or the range and richness of the learning environment we offer. We need to ask these questions if we are to be determined to be the stand-out, excellent choice.
The other question people have asked is what are the investment implications of the strategy. It is important to note that the strategy takes a three-year and ten-year perspective. It is not a budget plan, nor was it intended as such. It is a statement of ambition and direction. The pace with which we can implement some of the changes will depend on the additional incremental resources we can secure from year to year. However, it is equally important that our current allocation of €8.5 billion is spent to the best effect. We must examine many issues to ensure we are using all the resources allocated to us by the Houses of the Oireachtas to best effect, as well as making the unanswerable case for new investment in various challenging areas, for example, special educational needs, educational disadvantage, higher education and apprenticeships. We have set out strong ambitions for the future in all these areas.
I thank Senators for initiating this debate. It is important that those of us who are interested in education - most of the Senators present have a particular knowledge, background or expertise in this field - spread the message more widely that if we want to fulfil the ambitions we have as a nation, be they economic, cultural or scientific in nature or an ambition to create a fair society, the decisions we make about the education service will be at the heart of achieving them. For these reasons, it is important to integrate this with a simple plan that one can see. This is a feature that will apply in this respect of the action plan, as it did when I had responsibilities elsewhere. There will be a fresh plan for 2017 and it will be built on the feedback from and experience of what we do in 2016. Similarly, the new plan in 2018 will be built on the experience in 2017. This approach will provide a vehicle for continually seeking to improve the instruments and policy choices we make, bearing in mind the views of the Oireachtas and education stakeholders.
I hope we, as a community, can get behind the effort to set education as one of our national priorities and ensure we make the right choices across all education sectors. We must have clear goals and commit to outcome reporting in order that the Oireachtas, as the funder of the strategy, will be able to determine whether we are living up to the outcomes we hoped to achieve in literacy progression and the roll-out of different programmes. We are happy to be held accountable against objective standards. Any investment in education, provided it is done right, will deliver the returns Members of the Oireachtas have a right to expect.
Ba mhaith liom fáilte mhór an chur roimh an Aire go dtí an Seanad inniú. While many of the measures to improve quality and innovational learning in education in this plan are welcome, the education sector in general is somewhat underwhelmed by its contents. The three-year strategy, while worthy in some respects, is not strong enough in many of the areas of education policy that require substantial reform. An action plan requires clear objectives, goals, dates and measures but also resources, as the Minister indicated. Many of the education proposals in the Fine Gael Party's election manifesto feature strongly in this plan, including linking funding with performance. Some measures will have regressive effects on schools with a higher intake of students from low income backgrounds. Many argue that they will also have regressive effects on schools and the education system in general.
The action plan practically omits mention of the higher education funding crisis or concrete measures for improving access to third level education. The plan has five level goals covering learners, educators, the community, planning and support. While it is full of fine aspirations, concrete proposals for achieving them are absent. Time constraints do not allow me the luxury of discussing each of the goals, but I will briefly address several of them.
While one of the stated objectives is to address educational disadvantage and improve outcomes for all students, there are few tangible commitments in the action plan to achieve this goal. One of the areas in need of attention is foreign languages. Only 7% of ten-year-olds learn a foreign language compared to 75% in the United Kingdom. Physical education across the education system is another area in need of attention. Ireland is rated third worst among European Union member states for physical education at primary level and seventh worst at second level.
The objective should be to improve overall learning outcomes and well-being for children. We have serious concerns about the new, revised models being proposed for resources for children with special educational needs. Many believe this reorganisation of the special educational resource model is really a further cut to special education. While it is welcome that the Government has come to realise the importance of speech and language therapy in education, this document really only pays lip service to it. Fianna Fáil has proposed a new model that would radically change early intervention services by putting early intervention teams on-site in preschools and primary schools, including speech and language therapy teams. The model proposed is based on the successful model already in existence, albeit on a pilot basis, in Tallaght.
The current situation and attitude to leadership in schools is deeply unfair. Principals of schools with fewer than 179 pupils teach on average 169 days per year, with only 20 days for fulfilling their administrative responsibilities, whereas principals in schools with more than 179 pupils do not teach at all. This is unfair on all schools, their principals and pupils. Just across the Border from County Monaghan principals get at least one day per week off for administrative duties. How can principals be expected to engage in strategic planning for their schools, while also carrying out their administrative responsibilities in just 20 days? The action plan does not reverse this situation.
Reducing class sizes at primary level, especially for children under nine years, is a key issue. Approximately 125,000 or one in five primary school pupils are taught in super-sized classes of over 30 students. The proposals included in the plan would introduce punishing performance targets, remove teacher autonomy and further penalise schools in less advantaged areas. The system of standardised testing proposed displays a complete disregard for teachers and the public school system. The country deemed to have the most successful education system in the world is Finland, but it is certainly not obsessed with testing. In fact, the complete opposite is the case, but Finland trains all of its teachers to master's level.
The Government's approach to school divestment has simply not worked, with only six schools transferring patronage to date. Our policy approach has been to bring the issue forward in a constructive way. Divestment and increasing diversity in school patronage is essential and we will engage with all educational partners to energise this process rather than setting unrealistic goals and targets.
We must be more ambitious on apprenticeships and ask if 50,000 is enough. The gender balance in this area is abysmal and pitiful. While there has been an increase in the scope of skills and trades covered by apprenticeships, there are no new incentives for non-traditional businesses to become involved in new apprenticeships.
The plan to provide 50,000 new higher education places by 2021 is just not possible without significant increases in funding. Capital investment in higher education has been cut by a staggering 50% since 2011. Universities and institutes of technology, as we all know, are on the brink of financial collapse. In the entirety of the action plan I can only find two lines devoted to the crisis in higher level funding and the Cassells report.
The plan is far from perfect, but at least there is a plan. However, its lack of concrete proposals for attaining its goals is of concern. Certainly, its aim to provide the best education and training system in Europe is one to which we would all aspire.
I thank the Minister for his presence and attention. I would like to raise one issue with him, on which I would welcome his comments. I refer to the position of junior certificate students in ASTI-staffed schools who may lose 10% of the marks in their English examination this year, through no fault of their own. This threat needs to be withdrawn because it is causing stress for those students and their families. I ask the Minister to give a commitment to the Seanad today that he will ensure this threat of punishment will be withdrawn.
I thank the Senator. The Independent group is next on my, list but as there is no one here from that group, I invite Senator Maria Byrne to speak. Before she begins, I remind Members that they should stick to the subject matter of the debate and refrain from raising questions on other issues.
I welcome the Minister and commend him for his commitment to education. The action plan activates the commitments contained in A Programme for a Partnership Government. It is welcome that it contains commitments to the monitoring of actions, with published timelines. Progress will be assessed each year.
Ireland is among the top five countries in Europe in several important spheres of education, including post-primary literacy, third level participation and the taking up of science, technology, engineering and maths, STEM, subjects at third level. I was delighted to attend the launch of a STEM programme recently, which involves a partnership between the University of Limerick and Johnson and Johnson which is a major employer in the county. The programme aims to encourage more students to study STEM subjects and particularly to encourage female entrepreneurs to study engineering. Under the programme, students are guaranteed a work placement on graduation. The more we see of such initiatives, the better.
The OECD has found that education not only enables people to perform better in the labour market but also helps to improve their overall health, promote active citizenship and contain violence. I welcome the inclusion of very important goals in the action plan. The focus is on breaking the cycle of disadvantage and ensuring every person will have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. This also leads to creating sustainable, well paid jobs and strong economic growth.
The action plan commits to the further rolling out of several initiatives which are already in place in a number of higher level institutes. It aims, for example, to increase by one quarter the number of students undertaking a work placement or work project as part of their third level qualification by 2021. I have served on the governing bodies of both the University of Limerick and the Limerick Institute of Technology, LIT, and have seen first-hand the experience students attained during work placements, which helped them at college and in the workplace. Such placements are of benefit to both students and employers.
I welcome the emphasis in the plan on increasing the take up of gateway subjects such as physics, chemistry and higher level mathematics. This year's leaving certificate examination results show that almost 28%, or more than 15,000 students, opted to take the higher level mathematics paper and failure rates fell from 5% to 4.6%. The plan also aims to increase the opportunities for learning coding and computer science. In that regard, my local IT started a pilot scheme for primary school students on a Saturday morning, which has proved very successful and very beneficial for the students. It is welcome that the Minister has included coding and computer science in the plan because these are two of the subjects of the future.
The implementation of a national access programme for higher education is pivotal to the plan. Its objective is to increase by seven points, or the equivalent of 30%, the proportion of students at risk of disadvantage who proceed to higher education.
A mandatory area of learning, entitled "Wellbeing", will be introduced in the junior cycle programme in 2017. Increasing subject choice for students is important for student motivation and engagement and ensuring curriculum development will continue to respond to the changing needs of learners, society and the economy. The fact that the action plan will be reviewed each year means that stakeholders will have the opportunity to submit comments and recommendations.
An important goal is to improve the progress of learners at risk of educational disadvantage and learners with special educational needs. While there has been a significant improvement in the number of students from DEIS schools remaining at school until the leaving certificate examinations and in literacy and numeracy outcomes, achievement data show that outcomes in such schools are still below the national norm.
Since 2009, no school has been designated as a DEIS school. Will the Minister consider this as part of the review he is taking? As part of the Europe 2020 strategy, Ireland aimed to reduce to 8% the percentage of 18 to 24-year-olds with a secondary education but not in further education or training. This target has now been exceeded, with a current rate of 6.9%. The Department of Education and Skills is due to publish and implement a new action plan for education inclusion which will include a schools support programme, an assessment framework for resources allocation, as well as a monitoring and evaluation framework.
The Department will pilot a new model for the allocation of teaching resources to support children with special educational needs in schools, an important measure. A new inclusion support service for schools will be developed and there are continual improvements in the aims to help those delivering education services. Ireland is fortunate to attract high calibre individuals to the teaching profession and our teaching framework has a strong reputation internationally. From my local knowledge of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, I am aware of the high standards in place. The Department will increase investment in the professional development of teachers across the board. The fact professional development is encouraged at all levels is important. School leadership supports will be expanded with the new mentoring programme for newly appointed principals and a professional coaching service for serving principals. A new postgraduate qualification will be rolled out for aspiring school leaders.
Continual improvement in schools will be supported through a new quality framework for external inspection and school self-improvement. A planned programme of external evaluation will be rolled out across the schools sector with a range of new inspection models. Support is to be given to improving the quality of early years provision. The implementation of Aistear and Síolta, the early years curriculum and quality frameworks will be supported with training for mentors and trainers and upskilling for the workforce. I have witnessed the value of the early years programme in a pilot project run in a primary school in my local electoral area. I fully support the work of and the teachers in this programme.
The Department will develop a partners and learners charter to give parents and students a strong voice at school level. The Government will legislate for school admissions to make enrolment easier for children and their parents. The Department will also establish 400 multidenominational and non-denominational schools to give greater choice. It has established a national skills council to drive the development of the regional skills fora for key infrastructure developments to address skill needs, both nationally and regionally. More than 60,000 additional school places will be delivered by 2021 and in excess of 300 extensions to existing schools and 14 schools will be completed.
I welcome the action plan for education. We have an excellent education system, of which we can be proud. Current strategies such as the 20-year strategy for the Irish language and the national skills strategy help to underpin the overall system of education. The programme recognises the need to adapt to changing needs and increase skills in several key areas. It is important that everyone be given the opportunity to reach his or her potential in every sphere of education and skills.
I welcome the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, to the Chamber. He made a fine speech. It is not often a Shinner would say that to a Fine Gael Minister.
It is a first.
The Senator will learn.
That is where the goodwill ends.
We look forward to Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin's speech.
Sinn Féin welcomes the Minister’s aspirations to work towards a world-class education system. However, this statement is meaningless without adequate investment. Before we talk about where we want the education system to be, we first need to talk about where the system is right and how the Government has managed it so far.
The education system is a public service which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have decimated with severe cuts to vital services. Since 2012 there has been a 15% cut in the number of resource teaching hours allocated to children with special needs, as well a 27.6% reduction in guidance counselling provision. Since 2008 we have seen a €13 million cut in the school transport budget, while up to 2,000 staff have been taken out of third level education. Two thirds of primary school pupils are taught in classrooms of 25 pupils or more. More than 200 schools are using prefab classrooms to accommodate students. Fine Gael has left the education system in a complete mess. Fine Gael and the Labour Party made the decision to take away resources from the most disadvantaged in our society in respect of special needs and guidance counsellors. They even cut funding for school transport. What kind of equal education system is that?
We have read the action plan for education. While the Minister talks about aspiring to having a world-class education system, we do not see any evidence in the plan to rectify these injustices. There is a complete lack of ambition or vision in Fine Gael. For example, it has delayed the investment in ICT infrastructure for Wi-Fi, broadband, equipment and learning resources until 2018. What is the reason for this? It has set a target to increase access to third level in the lowest socioeconomic group to 30% by 2019. Does the Minister realise this is lower than the target set in 2008, which was 31%? Where is the political will in Fine Gael to deal with inequality in education? Why has it failed so far in six years to deal with the issue? Why has it not yet carried out a review of barriers facing lone parents in accessing education?
The review of the school transport system will not be available until 2018. The Minister has said he will not have developed a policy on science, technology, engineering and maths until 2017. He also said he will not have started or completed a review on barriers to further education and training for disadvantaged students until next year. Up to 89% of schools are under the direct patronage of the Catholic Church. That is not good enough in a state which aspires to be a republic. We would like to see a departmental roadmap to achieve the goal of 400 multidenominational schools by 2030. We would like to see the Department of Education and Skills issue guidelines for all schools to follow to ensure children can opt out of faith formation, if that is their wish. We would like to see the end of the baptism barrier in school admissions.
These are serious inequalities in our society and the Minister has put all of them on the long finger. I do not understand his vision for the education system. Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil have implemented successive budgets which continue to decimate and underinvest in education. I do not believe their policies will ever produce a world-class education system that will provide for every citizen in this republic. Ireland is at a significant crossroads. We need to start thinking about creating a discourse on public investment. Education is a vital public service. The State has a responsibility to provide the best possible service it can and it needs to be an equal service.
On a point of order, that discourse should start with an honest appraisal of what is happening. To say there has been a 15% cut in the number of resource teaching hours-----
That is not a point of order.
It is not a point of order. The Minister will get his turn at the end to address the points made.
I thought this was to be an engagement.
Yes, but we have to follow the rules of the House.
The Minister will come in at the end.
Okay, but the Senator is using a prepared script.
We need serious public investment in this sector and Sinn Féin is committed to carrying out such investment. The debate is changing and needs to be presented clearly. Neoliberal right-wing politics has failed and bankrupted the country. While we, on the left, argue for progressive taxation to fund public services which will be universal for everyone, the parties on the right argue for cuts in taxes and further privatisation of essential services. Sinn Féin has published its alternative budget. In that document is our vision for the education system. It includes a total capital and current expenditure investment of €480 million which would see a complete restoration of guidance counselling hours. It would also see an increase in the number of resource teaching hours and the creation of 1,000 additional apprenticeship places. It would provide for a €10 million fund for the replacement of prefabs and €30 million for investment in Wi-Fi networks for schools. That is our vision for the education system.
Next week Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will publish their budget which will contain their vision for the education system.
We do not yet know exactly what the specifics of that budget will be. However, we are all too familiar with the ideology on which it will be based and, therefore, we all understand there will be no significant reform. What the country needs to do is get serious about public investment across the entire public sector, with education being a priority service. In our alternative budget one can see that Sinn Féin is committed to such a vision.
We now move to the Civil Engagement Group.
I will be sharing my time equally with Senator Alice-Mary Higgins.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
I thank the Minister very much for his attention. To cut to the chase, I do not see in the strategy statement the ambition, commitment or passion for the full inclusion of children and people with disabilities or special needs. That is my assessment of it. The authors have chosen not to reference people with disabilities as a key priority, in spite of a commitment in the programme for Government to ratify the UN convention, or to reference or footnote Article 24 of that convention. The Minister is talking about having a high ambition, but I do not know whether he could have a much higher ambition regarding children and young people with disabilities and special needs than referring to Article 44 of the convention and using it as a standard bearer. There is no setting out of the level of disadvantage among children and families in order to underline the work involved and generate a sense of urgency. Let me give some examples. One quarter of the children of Ireland have some disability. Children with disabilities are more likely to come from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This creates a double disadvantage because those with disabilities, based on their lower socio-economic status, are more likely to be on the bottom rung, to be placed in special school settings or outside the mainstream setting.
In the first quarter of 2015 just 39% of the applications for an assessment of need were completed within the required timeframe. Many parents are forced to pay for private assessments to support applications for the provision of additional resources. Children of parents who cannot afford to pay for a private diagnosis are receiving fewer resource hours in school. Some 43% of people with disabilities have not progressed beyond primary education. That compares with a figure of 90% among others. That is an outline of some of the very hard facts. I am not making them up; they come from a range of reputable reports.
The strategy acknowledges that there are significant measures in the EPSEN Act, passed by these two Houses in 2004, that still have not been implemented or in respect of which the hold button has been pressed. Full implementation of the Act is necessary. Technology has fascinating potential to support students with disabilities in overcoming barriers, but there are still key challenges to be addressed in that regard.
Bizarrely and surprisingly, there are repeated references in the report to children in one category of disability, an area in which support is needed. Why is that the case when there are no references to children with autism, Asperger's syndrome, Friedreich's ataxia, muscular dystrophy, epidermolysis bullosa, arthritis, spina bifida, hydrocephalus, mental health issues, deafness or other such conditions? If there is to be ambition, it ought to encompass all children. The plan seems to have been to run down the road towards picking one group. That really shows the flaws in the statement. I have no doubt that it is well meaning, but it is flawed.
At the commencement of the debate it was heartening to hear the Minister talk about the twin objectives or Government challenges. One concerns employment. The Minister will certainly know from his last posting, in which he had responsibility in this area, that he did not hear too much about disabled people becoming redundant, for the very simple reason that they were never in jobs. Therefore, education is an absolute pillar in allowing people to advance, to which employment is key. It is critical that the education authorities get on with the job smartly. I refer to the question of having a fair society and breaking the cycle of disadvantage.
Why did the Minister not reference Article 24 the UN convention, given that it is implied in the programme for Government? Did his officials take the opportunity to read and study it? Will the Department continually dance to that tune now? As the Minister has said he will be updating the strategy annually, he has an opportunity to do as I propose.
The Senator is eating into the time of his colleague.
I welcome the Minister and thank him for attending. The plan makes for very interesting reading. I will try to confine my remarks to the specific goals. I hope the Minister will respond on a couple of points under each goal.
With regard to goals 1 and 2, on the learning experience and the progress of learners at risk, reference was made previously to the teacher-pupil ratio and progress towards the European target of having 20 students per teacher. That is essential if we are serious about the learning experience in schools and giving teachers the capacity to deliver fully.
The review of DEIS-designated schools is overdue. It is crucial. I regret, in the context of some of the inclusion issues talked about in the House, the discontinuation of the healthy-foods-for-all initiative. It was important in providing the additional supports that allowed some students to benefit fully from an educational experience.
I highlight the case of a particular group of learners at risk - lone parents. Lone parents seeking to re-enter education face particular challenges, one being that the system is not designed to ensure their full participation and progression.
I would like the Minister to address the education and training boards and their need to provide high-quality, part-time courses at suitable hours that allow for full inclusion. That the SUSI grant is not available for those in part-time education also disadvantages women and those who are parenting alone, be they men or women.
On goal 3, helping those delivering education services to improve continually, I wish to highlight two issues. The first concerns the higher education report on gender equality. How will we make sure the recommendations are really mainstreamed and that those in education are not only progressing but also given an opportunity to progress? It is vital that this be followed through and that the recommendations be reflected in the plan. We must see real links, for example, with funding and the Athena SWAN achievement.
Progression is crucial where younger teachers are concerned. If we are asking teachers, including younger teachers, to improve continuously, we need to ensure they are given the opportunity to do so by looking to the INTO recommendations on the restoration of pay and ensuring middle management positions and recognition for post-holders are high on the agenda. Pay and progression must go hand in hand and there should be two-way progress.
The key goal for me is goal 4 and it is important that we assert ourselves very clearly. The UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have spoken previously about the problem posed by the baptism barrier in admissions. I would welcome a clear ministerial assertion that schools are not religious institutions but educational establishments funded by the State in order to fulfil its obligations. It is important to assert this, especially in the light of the constitutional considerations. Schools should not be property to be transferred to trusts to be administered. They are, in fact, administered to fulfil a duty of the State which has to take primacy. In that regard, I call for a roadmap for the delivery of 400 multi-denominational and non-denominational schools and also the inclusion of Gaelscoileanna. Those who choose to be educated in Irish must also have the right to be educated in a place that reflects their-----
The Senator has exceeded her time.
I apologise. I will be just 30 seconds more. It is my final point.
The roadmap, the baptism barrier and the legislation have been mentioned. My key final point is one Senator Lynn Ruane would make if she were here; in a way, therefore, I am using the time she will not be using. If we want to have a vibrant research community, we need to invest in public research and higher education funding must be restored. We need to make sure we are taking full advantage of the Brexit opportunities by investing in higher education, including community focused public research.
I welcome the Minister. In his previous ministry he pioneered the concept of the action plan and its constant monitoring. It achieved a great outcome in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the rate of unemployment currently stands at under 8%, down from a high of 15.2%. It was a phenomenal success and I have no doubt the same model, with a different set of criteria and a different methodology, will also work in this instance. To use the biblical adage, "By their fruits you shall know them". The Minister has a record of delivery and I have no doubt he will deliver again.
The Minister was correct in stating education was critical to creating a fair society, giving people quality of life and creating a vibrant economy. As we all understand that, I do not propose to spend five minutes going through how it works.
It is not specifically within the remit of the Minister's Department, but the recent announcement of the second year of free early childhood education is critical to childhood development because such development begins at a very young age. It is a great help to creating equality and will assist in the context of what happens in primary school. It is a welcome development. I am a greater believer in early childhood education.
It is important in the upcoming budget that we continue to reduce class sizes, for which I have no doubt the Minister will fight. The reduction of class sizes at primary level is critical to good outcomes. All research suggests there is a link between class size and performance. Research also suggests interventions are needed at a younger age to create equality of opportunity. Reducing class sizes is, therefore, critical.
Continuous professional development of our excellent and outstanding, professional teachers is necessary. They are the first to say they need continuous professional development and because they are good and committed, they benefit from it. There was a loss to schools during the recession. We are not here to analyse the causes of that recession or its history, only to say there was a loss of positions of leadership and responsibility in schools. They need to be rebalanced, as do the capitation fees for students which were cut by 30% during the recession. That needs readjustment. They are practical measures that would serve to achieve the Minister's higher objective.
The Minister is correct that a key priority is to reduce disadvantage. He is also correct to cite the DEIS school programme as having achieved a lower dropout rate, down to 18% from 32%.
I refer to a matter which falls outside the Minister's remit but in respect of which he will have a moral authority in the Cabinet. It is the simple, basic and practical school meals programme. As a former teacher, a parent and somebody who lives and interacts with people on a daily basis, practical common sense tells me that the school meals programme is very important in many areas. It is very important that children have a wholesome diet. The Acting Chairman, Senator John O'Mahony, was an educator for many years. He might agree that it is critical for children to have a proper diet and good food. One of the best teachers with whom I ever taught said to me one time that if a child had a good night's sleep and proper food, he or she would learn. It is basic common-sense, but it is necessary. The school meals programme should be maintained and extended to include a lunch as well as a breakfast because, sadly, children do not always have a proper diet. I mentioned sleep. There should be the potential for home-school liaison teachers to work with parents in that regard. Proper sleep is critical to the development of children and young adults. That is an issue which could be examined.
I wish to address one matter, of which the Minister is acutely aware. It is an issue that affects males and females but predominantly males between the ages of 15 and 18 years. A cohort tends to opt out of academia, underperform and lose interest. If they are in school under duress from their parents and because of societal pressure, they are only physically present. More could be done in that regard and perhaps apprenticeships might come into play. Will the Minister respond on that issue? I am thinking of the concept of apprenticeships extending into other areas such as insurance. Wider links with industry might achieve something. Will the Minister respond to my point about these young men? Academia does not seem to work for them, yet they have every right to be in school. They have great potential but lose heart.
I agree with the Minister that lifelong learning should be a privilege and opportunity for all of us. As it is an exciting thing to do, we should do it. In that context, post-leaving certificate programme institutions have potential to be used to offer lifelong learning opportunities.
I will strike a parochial note with my final point. We did much in the area of capital investment under the previous Administration and a lot was achieved in my constituency. We have one particular need for capital for the new education campus in Cavan town where the excellent post-leaving certificate programme institute is included in the capital programme. Senator Robbie Gallagher will support me on this point. I would like to see it built during the term of office of the Government.
The Senator got in his plug. Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin is next. As the Independent group missed its first slot, after Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, I will allow Senator Victor Boyhan to contribute.
I welcome the Minister. It is incredibly apt that students from a primary school have just arrived into the Visitors Gallery. As I presume they are from a primary school, I wish them a very happy trip to the Houses of the Oireachtas and hope they learn loads. If they have questions for the Minister, they should be sure to pass them to me and I will ask them before the end. The Minister is here to make sure students get their homework done properly every night.
I appreciate the Minister's presence and want to be as constructive as possible. He has published an action plan for education which is to be commended. We need to have a roadmap for where we want to be and what we want to achieve. Education is something about which many people in Ireland feel very strongly. When one travels around the world and visits other jurisdictions to see what they are doing in education, sometimes the statements they make or their ambitions can strike a chord because perhaps such ambitions are missing in Ireland. I spent some time in West Dunbartonshire in Glasgow visiting a very disadvantaged community. They speak about wanting to see the absolute eradication of illiteracy. The total eradication of illiteracy is their motivation and ambition. Would it not be wonderful if in Ireland the national obsession in the education system was with the total eradication of illiteracy? One in three children leaving disadvantaged schools has basic reading problems and about 17.9% of the adult population is functionally illiterate. We have an issue with literacy which the previous Government did a huge amount to try to address.
The people of Finland will state the aspect which underpins their education philosophy is equality. It is not a principle of one party or another or of the left or the right but what they have collectively agreed. They have decided and all accept that equality in the education system is what is best for all children. The problem in Ireland is that we do not really have a word or phrase that underpins our education philosophy. I do not believe we do. In Ireland we have a publicly funded education system that is not a State education system because we outsource it to schools, boards of management and patron bodies. What inevitably happens is that competition gets into the mix and the system perpetuates inequality.
We separate children on the basis of religion and gender. Where else in society do we believe it is acceptable to separate children on the basis of gender at the age of four years? Is it any surprise that gender stereotypes evolve in society when children in so many schools are separated on the basis of gender? It is probably more of an urban than a rural phenomenon. The construct of the education system allows it to happen.
Only last week the Ombudsman for Children asked for the relationship between the State and the education system to be re-evaluated. It is time for us to set out a roadmap, in conjunction with the Minister's action plan for education, to lance the boil of the constitutional impediment to a genuine State education system. When we try to engage on issues related to school books or transport or try to bring about an education system like that in Northern Ireland, representatives of the Department of Education and Skills almost faint at the suggestion we have actual day-to-day engagement and a role in managing the day-to-day affairs of schools. They are horrified by the idea. The action plan for education is unlike any other action plan for education in Europe because we have a constitutional impediment to day-to-day involvement in the running of schools. This goes back to religious and baptism issues and all the rest of it. In the full light of day in a modern republic, this set-up appears to be absolutely crazy. I tried successfully to amend section 37 of the Employment Equality Act. What was it about? It was about trying to ensure LGBT, divorced or unmarried and cohabiting teachers would not be discriminated against by their schools. I could only amend the legislation. I could not have it repealed completely because of the constitutional reality in terms of where we stood in the education system.
The 1995 Hart and Risley study proved how a three-year-old from a welfare-dependent family had one third of the oral language capacity of a three-year-old from a professional family. The Minister was in the north inner city recently. He quite rightly said the relationship between the school and wider community was paramount. We cannot achieve everything in the school system. Children do not live in schools. However, the reality is that we need far more certainty on the ABC programme which the Minister was in Darndale recently celebrating and it was great to see him there. We have rolled out 13 such programmes throughout the State. They work with schools and the wider community to tackle acute disadvantage. We need more certainty from the Minister in that regard. Obviously, he has a role in working with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in that regard.
The issue of special needs assistants, SNAs, in the education system is central. A report was compiled last year by Senator Mary Moran on the role of SNAs. It highlighted the uncertainty they faced, the nature of their career path and the fact they should be an essential part of the education system, rather than their role being chopped and changed from year to year as budgetary priorities went up and down.
The issue of teacher diversity must be addressed. A teacher is capable of being a powerful role model. How are we addressing the issue of getting more working class and Traveller children, as well as more children from ethnically diverse backgrounds, into teaching roles? How powerful would it be for the average Irish primary school to have a teacher from the Traveller community, a disadvantaged background or an eastern European background? That does not happen often and there are many and varied reasons for it, but can we engage with the teacher training colleges to determine how we can improve the position, given that it is such a powerful role?
It is a question of the ambition we have for the society we are trying to construct. It is not simply about producing economic units. I realise the Minister has come from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I appreciate that his mindset has had to be recast over the summer months. The purpose is not simply to become an economic unit. That is not the point of education but to believe and understand the beauty of poetry, language, music, dance, sport and the basis for why we are alive. That is what education is all about. These are more profound than simply becoming an economic unit. I wish that ambition was written throughout the action plan for education with a view to moving towards the goal of empowering young people to be the best they can possibly be. We need to focus more on equality as being fundamental to our educational vision and try harder to lance the boil within the Constitution. That is something we have to grasp. Why not say we want to eradicate illiteracy in society? If the Minister does that, the Labour Party will support him.
I welcome the Minister and thank him for this positive report in which he has set out his five key goals and objectives. He has set out timelines, a brave thing for any Minister to do. I was talking to the Minister with responsibility for housing, Deputy Simon Coveney, about the first quarter, the second quarter and the third quarter. I put it to him that we were heading into the fourth quarter but 32 objectives in the third quarter had not yet been delivered on by him. It is a brave Minister who sets out his stall and timelines for delivery, but the Minister has done so, which is to be commended. I have no doubt about the Minister's extraordinary commitment to education. Moreover, I like the that he has an enterprising mind and is someone who has always promoted enterprise. I am pleased to see the greater synergy between enterprise and education and the effects of good education in enterprise, people being better educated, participating in the workforce and the economic benefits. I see this peppered through the sentences and objectives of the document, for which I commend the Minister.
This is a republic and we need an education system that respects the true principles of a republic. I say this as someone who comes from the Church of Ireland tradition. I am critical of the Church of Ireland - I have no difficulty in saying as much - and the anomalies in that regard. I have seen too many Church of Ireland schools throughout Ireland which have fought tooth and nail to resist anyone from outside their denomination coming to them on the basis of the Church of Ireland ethos. We have seen it in the health service, but we still have it in the education system. It is something I expected the Minister to address. Many expected him to crack the kernel of the issue. We cannot have an education system that segregates people. We had too much of it in Northern Ireland. No religion or faith or faith-based consideration should be relevant when it comes to gaining entrance to a State school. I draw a distinction between a State and a fee-paying school. There are other issues about finance and how the State finances a private or fee-paying school, but there should be no grounds for discrimination related to religion or the absence of religion in State primary schools. This is the greatest single challenge facing any Minister and the State.
There is a Gaelscoil down the road from where I live. I am horrified even to share this with the House, but someone told me recently that he had put his children in the Gaelscoil because there would be no Nigerian children in it. Many immigrants are struggling to learn English. That is a shocking, horrific and horrible statement for anyone to make. There are no catchment areas. As a result, there are children who live next door to the Gaelscoil who cannot gain access to it. They are told there is no catchment areas for Gaelscoileanna. This is a community school, to which children living next door cannot gain access, yet children from ten and 15 miles away can come to the school for various reasons. That is unacceptable on the watch of any Minister for Education and Skills.
We should not insist on segregation on the basis of gender in the State primary school system. It should not be tolerated. It should be a clear objective that it cannot happen any longer. We have to untangle the State system. We spoken about patronage and how in excess of 80% of schools are under the patronage of the Catholic Church. I have nothing against the Catholic Church, but no religious group should be dominant. I want Muslims, believers, non-believers, Catholics, Anglicans and whoever else to be able to attend their community school, local school or State school. I want us to allow them to nourish, grow and befriend each other in their communities. That is a major task. I will leave that thought with the Minister.
I wish to discuss the education service in prisons. I have been on a number of prison boards and I am familiar with the education process. Traditionally, the vocational education committees operated schools in prisons.
When the summer holidays come, suddenly the education programme stops. We are told the VECs cannot work in the summer, yet the prisoners are in situ for three or four years. That is unsatisfactory and I would like the Minister to look at the education of young people in prisons. This is about their futures, but they are spending two or three years incarcerated in prison without the benefit of receiving any education for three months in the summer.
The plans for apprenticeships and training are very good but to tie them into the Rebuilding Ireland programme we will need to plan from now into the future. Many leave school at 14 or 15 years of age and are marginalised through no fault of their own. They cannot engage in education and emotionally cannot connect because they have been damaged by circumstances beyond their control. What are we doing for them? We need to accommodate and offer them other forms of training. Many do not even have the academic qualifications to enter apprenticeships. They have the barest numeracy and literacy skills, but they come to my office saying they want to undergo training. Surely they are entitled to receive training and should be assisted in finding it. I want more emphasis to be placed on training and assisting people. We are all learning and education is an ongoing process.
This is a good policy and I am not here to knock it. The Minister has set down his plan, vision, objectives and timelines and I hope it goes well for him. As politicians, our job will be to review them next year and the year after and ask the Minister how he has delivered. If he has not delivered, we will have to ask why. It is a two-way process and I agree with him about scripts. I am not in the business of writing scripts, but I passionately believe in education and giving people opportunities. I urge the Minister to support those in prison and those who feel left alone. It is not that they do not have any capacity or ability, but they need assistance and support in the form of really imaginative training and apprenticeship schemes. We need to bring everyone along in order that they can also enjoy success because everyone has a right to develop and maximise his or her potential. I do not doubt the Minister's commitment, but I would like him to focus on the issues I have raised.
I acknowledge the contributions of Members, but I was wondering whether the Minister had done anything at all in his first 100 days in office and whether, given some of the commentary, he was just occupying the seat. Like Senator Victor Boyhan, I have no script, but I have been a passionate educator for 16 years, like the Acting Chairman. The Minister has come into the Department with a clear roadmap and plan.
Let us look at from where we have come. As this debate is taking place, the live register has fallen below 300,000, while unemployment is falling to below 8%. There are 2 million people working for the first time in eight years. That gives the Minister the opportunity to work on retraining, upskilling and educating people, something in which I passionately believe. One of the greatest joys of my teaching career was when I saw people going back to education or proceeding to further education, or those who did not sit the leaving certificate examination taking the applied leaving certificate programme and being able to have a career.
Let us have a real debate about education. If we follow the mantra of some, we will throw all the money in the world into it and end up with nothing. We have an action plan for education which prioritises earlier intervention and deals with how we can change the curriculum to invest in the child. I agree with Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin that education is not about leaving certificate examination results or whether one gets into college. It is not about the bullet points in the Minister's action plan. It is about the ability of a person to become immersed in drama, music or sport or participate in a job-shadow programme in which he or she works with people with disabilities. We have endured huge cuts in funding for education services, but in the North Sinn Féin is closing schools down and cutting their budgets. It should not lecture us about what is happening here while, in the North, it does the opposite.
Fine Gael does not even organise in the North.
The fundamental goal of the action plan is about education providing an opportunity. As Maslow said, it is about reaching self-actualisation, whether it is the student who gets into Trinity College Dublin with full marks or students who complete the leaving certificate applied programme and enter an apprenticeship in order that they can do the job of a mechanic, a job they love. Education is about us being held to account. I welcome the ambition in the plan and know from the Minister's previous roles that the targets, goals and milestones are included in order that he can reach them. It is also welcome that it is a living document and open to change. We have heard some very good ideas today. I acknowledge the presence in the Visitors Gallery of Mr. Michael Barron who is involved in Equate Ireland, the equality in education group which campaigns for the reconfiguring of schools to deliver diversity in education.
There are questions about the ethos of schools and there have been controversies about who can and cannot get in. We recently had the unedifying case of students from the Traveller community being refused entry to schools. That cannot be allowed to continue. We must make the education system accessible and remove the barriers to education. Recently I was in St. Paul's special school in Cork, which is trying to make life better for children with a disability. I was in another school in Greenmount in Cork, where they have a plan to change how they teach music and maths. We need to get the fundamentals right. If we get them right and encourage and reward enterprising schools, we will have an education system that will be better for all of us.
I appeal to the Minister regarding the ASTI. As a former member and shop steward, I hope we can reach an accommodation. It is imperative for the sake of the children, the teachers and the school system. I know that he has made a huge effort, but I ask the Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, to make one final effort to reach a compromise. The education system and the plans the Minister has for it will go nowhere without all of the partners being involved. I appeal to the ASTI to enter into negotiations in a meaningful way. Let us put the megaphone diplomacy to one side and get down to talking again because the education system needs it. This is a plan with ambition; it is a vision. It needs resources and money, but let us put the child at the centre of education and give the professionals due reward in terms of their pay, remuneration and conditions and the pupil-teacher ratio that they need.
To say the Minister is doing nothing and has no plan or vision is unfair. Anyone who read Fintan O'Toole's article in The Irish Times recently would have believed the plan had been conceived out of thin air. but it is a good plan which needs to be supported.
They must have different minutes in Cork from what we have on the east coast.
I am sorry.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss the action plan for education. Not unlike the previous speaker, I am glad that there is a plan. I could stand here and tear the plan to shreds, as others might tear it in a different way.
We are all passionate about education and all by-products of the education system. It is the one sector of the community in which every individual in society will take part. I do not want to talk about funding and will not get involved in the blame game, but there is a necessity for funding and investment in the education sector. The problems therein and the process to achieve the best outcomes are investment related. I take the philosophical route. When we talk about funding for the health service, we say the money should follow the patient. In education the money should follow the student. One glove does not fit all in meeting the needs of this or any other society.
We get carried away on the positioning of the education system on international league tables. Equally, we get carried away in trying to position schools and educational institutions on internal league tables. The part of the plan about which I would be fearful is the angle towards providing monetary compensation based on performance. That is a dangerous route to take in any education system. In medium-sized and larger towns with more than one school it will result in cherry-picking where certain schools will opt for the students who will get the best results to move up the league tables. We will then end up with the opposite scenario in the other schools at the bottom of the line.
I want to mention a sector of students who tend to be left out; in the debate on the budget they will be called the squeezed middle. There is always a major push for students with special needs, but when it comes to performance, results and league tables, the emphasis is on the high achievers. Those in the squeezed middle who may not have special needs and not do as well academically as those at the top do not get a mention; sometimes they are the also-rans. It is important that we consider everybody within the education system. For a particular student to get 250 points can be an enormous achievement, but there will not be a word about it. All the talk will be about the student who got 600 or 650 points. On the points system, we talk about employment and progression to third level. We take the personal aspect out of it. We talk about producing students to fill jobs available, but there is too much emphasis on this aspect. We have to think about the person. Education is about the development of self, irrespective of where one ends up when one leaves the education system. One will still be a human being and a member of society. We get carried away in talking about economics and employment prospects and forget about the individual.
I welcome the relationship between SOLAS and the education and training boards as there was a disconnect between training and education. I am glad that gap has been bridged because it will help in meeting employment prospects in the future.
This may sound philosophical, but all of the changes and proposals are necessary. Some may need tweaking; therefore, it is welcome that they will be reviewed on an annual basis. However, I would like somebody to grasp the nettle and come back with a model that will start at national school, or even in preschool, with a view to bringing a generation to third level. We should make the necessary changes, with an input from all sectors of society, to the second and third level sectors as we move along, but we appear to want to change everything at once. That does not work when teachers and students are half way through a system, a problem arises and we try to change it mid-stream. It may be a ten to 15 year project, but it is worth considering that we start at foundation level with a model to take someone through all the levels without trying to tweak it on a daily basis while they are still in the process of their education.
Sílim go bhfuil an t-ádh ar an Aire go bhfuil an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach sa gcathaoir mar, nuair a chonaic mé é ag labhairt mar uachtarán ar an TUI, bhí go leor le rá aige. Tá míle fáilte roimh an Aire.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss education issues. We spoke to the Minister at the committee meeting the other day and received a very good briefing from departmental officials yesterday. My colleague has given a broad overview of Sinn Féin's approach to the action plan, but I want to draw the Minister's attention to a number of specific issues on which I would like to receive a response.
I have said on a number of occasions that I welcome the work which has been done on an Irish language policy. We are just waiting for the policy to be published and implemented. I understand this is imminent, but how imminent is imminent? We have a serious issue in that regard. It may be clear from the discussions we had yesterday that one of the issues concerning the Irish language is the quality of teaching and the fact that the standard of teachers teaching Irish is diminishing rapidly. That goes back to the language being taught in schools and at third level. The 20-year Irish language strategy states there should be a full-time Irish language teacher training college, which might help to deal with some of the issues. That matter must be re-examined in the context of the strategy, but we have an issue with the standard of Irish being taught by teachers.
I commend the work of An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta, COG. It is doing fantastic work, but it is under-funded and under-resourced. Anything that could be done to support its work would be a great help.
When I teased out the issue of Irish language teachers, I stated the problem was not specific to them. I understand there is an issue with science and home economics teachers, as well as the teachers of some other subjects. There are issues to do with teacher training and the capacity of teachers to teach a subject. The Minister might outline in more detail his plans to address these issues.
I take issue with the point made by Senator Victor Boylan about Gaelscoileanna. The Gaelscoileanna of which I am aware are diverse and, in many cases, multi-lingual. There may be a specific example here and there of a school that is being exclusive and I agree with the Senator that this should not happen. I am sure Gaelscoileanna would agree also. However, the broader issue is that the demand for places in Gaelscoileanna is not being met by the number of Gaelscoileanna being established. My understanding from the statistics provided is that approximately 23% of parents wish to send their children to a Gaelscoil but because of the current patronage model, only 6% are being granted their wish. To a certain extent, there is a need for a decoupling of the Gaelscoil issue from the patronage issue because there is no reason an Educate Together or a multi-denominational school could not also be a Gaelscoil. It could have a dual function and might address some of the issues validly raised by Members such as Senator Victor Boylan.
The other issue about which all of us were asked during the summer was school transport. There is a real need to build more flexibility into the school transport scheme. We have seen ludicrous examples of rules being implemented which resulted in children being sent from their own parishes, away from where they play football, to attend a school outside it because the bus stop was 200 metres closer. I am sure the Minister is aware of many other examples and it points to the need for a review of the scheme.
On third level education, I am told by practitioners, specifically teachers of practical subjects, that they are so strapped for funds they do not have money to buy materials to teach students. I understand this is happening in the institutes of technology, in particular. They would have had an advantage initially in teaching practical subjects in training students for industry to a certain extent, but I am told the students now coming through are not gaining the practical experience they need. Also, overcrowding is chronic in some colleges and institutes of technology.
Senator Jerry Buttimer talked about the unemployment rate decreasing, but one of the issues, particularly at third level, is the precarious contracts offered. It is also an issue at second level.
They are going from school to school and from contract to contract, not having a very certain career path.
No wandering from the issue.
That is something that has to be addressed.
What is the Minister’s vision for rural schools? We need to have a plan. At a recent committee meeting we heard that the Department did not have figures for how many schools in rural areas did not have multipurpose or PE rooms. If it does not have the numbers for how many schools do not have a PE hall, how can it have a plan for how many it will build and when it will address the issues involved? It is easy to bring forward a curriculum, but without the facilities, it is impossible to deliver on it.
We need to address the issue of island schools and in particular those primary schools with one teacher. It is not possible to have a one-size-fits-all scenario when it comes to island schools.
The DEIS programme needs to be reviewed and expanded. We find more areas where there are issues of social isolation, etc., and the DEIS programme needs to be re-evaluated in order that more children who need to be in such a school can go there.
I have done a lot of work in NUIG on the issue of gender equality at third level. It is a problem which is not getting any better. It is not just in the teaching grades but also in administration and other grades and we need to address it. As Mr. Michael Barron is in the Visitors Gallery, I want to support the comments and policy of Equate Ireland.
I look forward to further engagement with the Minister through the committee and other fora.
I welcome the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, to the Chamber. He pioneered the action plan with the Action Plan for Jobs. As a way of a Department doing business, it was revolutionary at the time. He is bringing that same methodology to the Department of Education and Skills. It is slightly different in that the Action Plan for Jobs in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation was very much commercially driven. Education is driven on the basis of education and social issues, but nevertheless the mechanics are still worthwhile.
In my area of Limerick parents have two issues at primary level. The first is class size, particularly at the lower end. Many school principals effectively factor in that junior infants, senior infants and first class have lower numbers. That would be very worthwhile and it is something at which we need to look.
The second element is the issue of physical education and obesity at a very young age. We need to seriously consider having PE as a subject at primary level. We need to plan for it and it would yield major benefits. It needs to be considered alongside diet. A growing number of children have diabetes, a modern feature that is alarming.
At secondary level, there are issues with the school transport system in Limerick. Much of the system is based on out-dated structures and the locations of schools. Pupils are qualifying for school transport based on a school people in the area might have attended 20 years ago. That has evolved over time and, in some cases, the schools have closed. I know that a review is under way, but we need to consider the dynamic of the parishes in which people are living, the schools they normally attend and the clubs for which they play. We need to have an integrated model which I would very much welcome.
On third level, I attended the University of Limerick which pioneered work experience and co-operative education programmes. The then president, Mr. Ed Walsh, modelled the university on the Northeastern University in Boston that had pioneered co-operative education which made students very employable. In most third level institutions work experience and co-operative education are factored in to most courses but not all. We need to look at the issue. All third level courses should provide for an element of work experience or other practical input, be it for a BA in English or accountancy, as it would yielda benefit.
We looked again at apprenticeship schemes. They became unfashionable. People here need to see them as a career route, as they are regarded in Germany.
I raise a local issue that I have discussed with the Minister - the two provision of new secondary schools in Mungret and the greater Castletroy area. The process to appoint a patron is under way. When does the Minister expect decisions to be made? The school in Mungret is to be opened in September 2017. It is already holding open nights. The school in the greater Castletroy area is to be opened in September 2018. What is the status of the process involved and when will announcements be made? It is of huge concern to students and their parents living in Mungret and the greater Castletroy area.
I thank the 12 Senators who took part in the debate. They made some very interesting contributions. I was somewhat puzzled by Senator Robbie Gallagher saying he saw an regressive effect on disadvantaged learners. One of our objectives in the plan is to increase the performance and the focus on disadvantaged learners. One of the features of the resource model, with which the Senator seems to be uneasy, is that it puts much greater emphasis on disadvantaged children because it ties the provision of teaching much more closely with the educational needs of the individual child. While people can argue about it, the model has been piloted with considerable success.
I take the Senator’s point about not teaching languages in primary schools. A pilot scheme carried out a few years ago was not extended owing to financial pressure and other reasons. In secondary schools there is a high participation rate; approximately 80% of students take a language in the leaving certificate examinations, but we do not achieve high language competency, which indicates that something is falling through the cracks. Many students study languages at third level and undertake the Erasmus programme, but we still do not achieve. We are working on a languages strategy to try to address some of these issues.
It is not true to say we have ignored higher level. We have the same ambitions for higher level education as we do for the others - to improve learning and teaching, to see more disadvantaged children come through to higher education and to see better connections with the community and enterprises. We are bringing the Cassels report to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills where we hope everyone will take a view on how we should fund third level education. It outlines the fundamental choices. Mr. Peter Cassels has taken a 15-year perspective, but we need an honest debate on how we fund it. Some might say they do not like any of his proposals, but if we do not accept any of them, we cannot fulfil our ambition. I am interested in engaging in that debate and I hope that together we can frame a longer term perspective.
I do not agree with the Senator that we should abandon the junior certificate award model that has formed the basis of teaching in recent years in English and now science and business. It has three strands. It has the conventional examination, in which 90% of the marks are allocated; a student written project which is tested independently by the examination board and for which 10% of the marks are awarded; and a junior certificate achievement certification for the range of things the pupil did under the different curriculum headings. It is a very good model. Unfortunately, the ASTI has decided that it will not engage with it, but that is the junior certificate award model in place.
I ask Senators, as well as others, to appeal to the ASTI. We have asked it to suspend its directive in respect of English to allow it to go ahead. The new junior certificate programme is the way to go. I went to Adamstown to see the new science, business and coding programmes. That is happening in schools which are adopting the new junior certificate programme which is revolutionary. It is a much better model for teaching and learning and has been good for the teachers and students. We need to stick with the approach that has been put in place and not seek to unravel it simply because there has been some pressure, with which I do not agree.
Senator Maria Byrne raised the issue of new schools entering the DEIS programme. That will be a feature of the plan that we hope to produce by the end of the year. It will introduce a metric model that will be much more independent and based on statistical rather than random returns that principals had to put together. It will be based on Central Statistics Office data from the census. It will be a robust model and give those that have not been able to participate since 2009 a chance to do so. I welcome Senator's emphasis on preschool level. We are trying, through Aistear and Síolta, to bring forward a good curriculum and standards. Returning to what Senator Paul Daly said, it is very much at that earlier point that we have to intervene if we want to shape the education system.
Senator Paul Gavan started off excellently and I thought we were going to have a real engagement on where the education system could go, but he then seemed to turn to a prepared script in which he went back to a very partisan model of discussion. I like a good debate in this House and would give the following advice. I am a former Member of this House in which there is much more open debate and, to some degree, Members leave their party tags behind them and try to engage. That is one of the reasons I like coming to the Seanad because it engages at that level in identifying what the problems are and how they can be solved. Some of the what the Senator's scriptwriter wrote for him is simply untrue. We have increased the number of resource teachers by 41% since 2011, which represents a huge investment. We have also increased the number of special needs assistants, SNAs, by 22%, which represents huge investment in special education. We are making a big effort to meet what Senator John Dolan called for in improving the outcomes for and investment in children with special educational needs.
We have increased the number of apprenticeships by 2,000 and our plan is to have another 4,000. We want not only to work in the traditional apprenticeships area but also to move from the existing 27 to 100, bringing in, as we did last week in Sligo, the first apprentices for the new insurance model. There is a huge role for apprenticeships, to which I am very committed. We have lacked in our model in Ireland a stream for training and apprenticeships of equal status with higher education. That has been a huge gap. Germany and other European countries have a much stronger stream of apprenticeships, with routes into further education if one wants to take a degree afterwards. I visited Liebherr, a German company, in Killarney and it made the point which I thought was very revealing that more of its intake of apprentices reached high executive positions and high pay than its intake of graduates. It was an interesting revelation. If we get the model right, it will have a very fulfilling outcome and very often bring in people who otherwise would not have got to third level.
I do not agree with Senator John Dolan that there is not an ambition in the strategy for special education. The second goal outlined refers to children with special educational needs and children at a disadvantage. Addressing provision in that area is a core goal of the strategy. We are investing in it. I will be looking at better indicators of outcomes for children with a disability to see that we are doing it in the best possible way. As we move to roll out the new resource teaching model, it will involve more investment, but I believe it is a better model. It is a whole school model, does not focus solely on a special needs assessment of a child and not time-resourced. It puts an obligation on the whole school to accommodate a child with special educational needs and also gets away from the point the Senator rightly made, that some parents do not have the same access to an assessment. We have become too reliant on these assessments and need to move to a different model. That is what the new model, designed under the leadership of Mr. Eamon Stack of the National Council for Special Education, will do and it is being piloted. The pilot project has receive widespread support, notwithstanding some of the concerns expressed by Senator Robbie Gallagher. Change will not always be welcomed by everyone, but the new model is the right way to go and I hope we can do it. I would like to see more capacity to understand the impact and progression to jobs and other ways to progress, as the Senator mentioned. We need to put more work into understanding the impact.
I take the point the Senator made about whether there was an omission with respect to the UN convention, to which we are committed. I was looking at it online and do not believe there is anything we are seeking to do that in any way would be in contradiction of it, or that we have missed out on something, but we will look at it to make sure there is not.
Senator Alice-Mary Higgins referred to the DEIS review which we hope to have by the end of the year. As Senator Maria Byrne said, it will examine schools that have been excluded. It will also consider if there are better models, if we can adopt different approaches, if we can support leadership within DEIS schools, if we can look at clusters working together to do things and if we can build greater links with the wider community. We may have to pursue it by way of pilot projects and testing to see what works and what does not work, rather than taking a big bang approach with everything being resolved. The DEIS programme is very much like a cliff - one is either on it or one falls off the edge and is completely out. We want to soften the cliff in terms of need. The resource model will be a very significant player in helping children in disadvantaged schools and children who are in the education system.
A report on lone parents is in preparation. It is recognised that there is an issue. The publication of the report has been delayed because extra work has to be done, but it is progressing.
I take Senator Alice-Mary Higgins's point that gender progression should be a key part of the higher education strategy. I thought it was and will have to check, but I thought that in the context of the framework for performance, one of the elements was progression, gender progression in particular, with disadvantage and disabilities being part of it. If it is not, we will certainly look at the issue. Only this morning I launched an initiative with I Wish, a Cork based organisation originally which is now to be run nationwide. Cork always teaches us things. It is an initiative to encourage transition year girls to avail of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, opportunities. It is a huge issue if we want to see more women crack the global challenges that we face. There is encouragement to participate.
Senator Alice-Mary Higgins raised the issue of pay for newly qualified teachers. I am delighted that we secured an agreement with the INTO and TUI on that front. It is a progressive move. Senator Jerry Buttimer asked if we could reach an agreement with the ASTI. My door is open to its members to get a similar deal that would resolve the issues involved, but they have decided unilaterally to withdraw from the Croke Park agreement hours. They have also decided to ballot for industrial action. I would like to see it set aside its decision to withdraw from the Croke Park agreement hours to secure what would be real genuine improvements for its members, namely, the substitution payment, the payment for newly qualified teachers, flexibility on the Croke Park agreement hours and greater flexibility in achieving permanency, something on which all young teachers have rightly felt a need for progress.
Senator Joe O'Reilly and others referred to the importance of leadership and middle management, a big victim in the crash years. I would like to see it rebuilt and it is part of the agreement with the TUI and the INTO, but we need to look at having a middle management structure for a decade's time, at what it would look like, the skills it would involve, the functions that would be carried and the leadership model that should be in place in schools. It is not simply about returning posts and so on but also designing a good quality leadership structure within schools.
School meals are important. Senator Joe O'Reilly referred to young people at risk who might become alienated from the school culture.
I hope the junior certificate programme will engender less alienation because it is more practical, but I also believe, as does Senator Joe O'Reilly, that we need a bigger range of options to give people a second chance and allow them to come back into the system. There are a number of programmes such as Youthreach and VTOS, as well as the community training centres, and they can merge traineeships and apprenticeships, but we must be very alert. It is not a case of one chance and all doors close, which has been too big a part of the model for many years. There is a greater understanding in that regard.
Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has very big ambitions. I am criticised for having the modest ambition of being the best in Europe. The Senator has big ambitions to eliminate illiteracy. From my time in education in the past, I know that this has proved very difficult to achieve. Every country in the world struggles with people with low levels of literacy, but we need to steadily improve and that is what I am doing. It is a little like the Kerryman - if one wants to achieve some of these things, one will not start from here. Unfortunately, in practical terms, I must start with what I find.
The same is true of the Senator's ambition in respect of patronage. One could argue that a republic should have no patrons, be it in denominational or non-denominational schools, but the reality is that we have a patronage model. Not only that, but we have a Constitution that protects the rights of those patrons to run schools and disallows the State from discriminating between them.
Does the Minister have anything to say to us about the baptism barrier?
The baptism barrier is being addressed in the other House. The Labour Party has introduced a Bill that looks at the possibility of confining a denomination's rights to its catchment area, which would mean that while a denominational school could favour such children from within a parish - one would have to define what that was - it could not do so in the case of children from outside it. The Bill has passed Second Stage and will procedd to Committee Stage. There will be issues about whether it is compatible with constitutional provisions. There is a broad sense that this would be fair, even among people who value faith-based education. It is a complicated issue. Senator Victor Boyhan is admirably passionate about what an education system should look like in a republic, but we have a Constitution that must be respected, particularly by a Minister who is responsible for upholding it. There are issues about how we expand choice, while respecting the constitutional provisions and the many patrons who put a huge amount of work into managing their schools in a fair way. I know that there are real problems in over-subscribed schools, but many schools have a legal obligation to take everyone and do so. A school that is not over-subscribed cannot reject anyone. That will be included in the law as we pass the school admissions Bill. There is a genuine problem in some over-subscribed schools.
I take Senator Victor Boyhan's point about education services in prison and confess that I do not know enough about it to be able to respond to him. However, I share his passion for the expansion of apprenticeships and traineeships.
Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said that perhaps we should look afresh at the Gaelscoil model and that they did lose out too much in terms of patronage. He hinted at units within schools that would offer all-Irish instruction. I know that has been acceptable in some areas but not all.
In response to Senator Jerry Buttimer, one never comes to the Seanad without learning something. Self-actualisation is a new theme, but I am sure I will use it again and without attributing to its source.
Senator Paul Daly made an interesting contribution. I certainly do not believe in turning out people who can make widgets. People may say I am neoliberal or that I have been working with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for too long, but that is certainly not my view of the world. Increasingly, enterprise does not value widget makers. It values creativity, the ability to challenge and work in teams and innovation. Ironically, there has been convergence of what employers and the education system want to produce, but I do not think they will ever coincide. We must value an education system that provides people with much broader values, skills and appreciation. Nonetheless, one of the things we must do is equip young people to progress and do useful work, be it in public, private or whatever sector in which they choose to end up . This must be a part of it.
I also take the point that we should not just focus on the high performers. That is not my intention and I am very keen to look at low performers, in particular, because that is an important part of confronting disadvantage. I also wish to look at the median or mean. I should know the difference in that regard. We must not just look at the top performers, which, to be fair, I do not think is the approach to take.
The Senator is right to highlight a concern about a reliance on league tables. At the same time, we must have an evidence-based policy. We must benchmark ourselves against something. While I agree that everything that is measured is not always everything what we want to achieve, at the same time, we must do our best to see whether investment in a particular area is delivering and making us better than other countries that are doing similar things in similar areas and possibly getting better results. That is why measuring ourselves against the benchmark of best practice is important in any area. However, we should not become obsessed with league tables, particularly league tables that are very narrow and that are - let us be blunt about it - put together for commercial reasons. The people who put together league tables are often selling services and can make people at the bottom feel they need to get in a consultant.
I take the point that we need to start earlier if we want to break the cycle of disadvantage. That is what was important about the ABC programmes in Darndale, Tallaght and a number of other places. They deal with the mother of the child before he or she is even born and look at things like nutrition, discipline, homework, attitudes to education and books in the home. They deal with the fact that at the age of three years a child might already be way behind and try to address that issue.
In response to Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, I hope the Irish language policy will be out within a reasonable period. I think it is coming to a conclusion.
I have already dealt with the issue of patronage.
In response to Senator Kieran O'Donnell, nine schools have been dealt with. We are very conscious that September 2017 is the starting date; therefore, a decision will be made within weeks.
PE will be a leaving certificate subject. In the junior cycle well-being will involve encouraging students to look after themselves. I would love to be in a position to build more PE halls, but they have definitely been squeezed, given the shortage of resources. We are catering for 20,000 additional pupils every year; therefore, it is very important that we have school places and their provision has been the priority.
I agree with the Senator on work experience being part of degree programmes. It has a huge impact and is at the core of the apprenticeship model. The Univeristy of Limerick and DCU from the same stable value that model and others need to catch up with them.
School transport is a difficult issue. The trouble is that one rule book is all we have and we must apply it in 5,000 or 6,000 parishes and villages. No matter how we design it, we will have students who are discommoded. Nearness to school is the criterion which is both fair and objective.
The matter is under review, but I find it hard to see how it can be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. We have spend €175 million. We are not deliberately trying to cut anyone off or frustrate him or her, but there is a limited pot and the children who are eligible must be given priority.
I thank Senators for their contributions. This is not a perfect document. It cannot be because we do not have all of the resources we need. I would love to be able to tell my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to give me all of the money I need, but I hope that in a year's time I will have a stronger case to make to obtain more money than we have received this year and to keep moving on aggressively. If we deliver the ambition we have for the actionplan, it will be seen that the investment made in the education system is realising results through delivering a fairer, more equal and balanced society and allowing entrepreneurship and enterprise to achieve success in many walks of life. I hope I am putting myself in a position where I can win the argument in favour of more resources for the education system, but in order to win it, we must engage in this type of systematic planning. I thank those who support the model.
I look forward to returning to the Seanad. The Acting Chairman did not get a chance to speak.
It was most unusual. I thank the Minister for his most comprehensive reply.
The Seanad adjourned at 4 p.m. until 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 11 October 2016.