Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 May 2018
231. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he remains satisfied that the primary, secondary, third and fourth levels of education here are comparable to the best available throughout Europe and further afield; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22666/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have made a strong commitment in the Action Plan for Education 2016-2019 to focus on improving achievement and seeking continual improvement in standards achieved by students. We start from a strong base in the school sector: standards in literacy and numeracy have risen over the lifetime of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and the performance of our students on international assessments of reading, Mathematics and Science is strong at primary and post-primary levels.
Despite these excellent results, there remain some challenges to achieving the vision in the Action Plan for Education 2016-2019 to provide the best education and training system in Europe. These include:
- Improving numeracy outcomes for all students
- Tackling educational disadvantage
- Enabling higher-achieving students to reach their full potential
- Embedding achievements gained in literacy, with a particular focus on literacy for and through the Irish language and digital literacy.
Progress towards meeting those challenges is already underway and specific, measureable, actions are set out in the Department’s Action Plan for Education 2018. I don’t underestimate these challenges but remain confident that they will be met through the commitment and effort of Early Years practitioners, teachers and school leaders, parents and staff in support services of various types, teacher educators, and a range of other bodies, agencies and organisations.
In relation to higher education, Ireland is in the top 5 positions in Europe in terms of participation and in the top 10 positions in terms of educational attainment. The participation rate of 18-20 year olds in higher education has grown from 20% in 1980 to a current level of 58%. Ireland has one of the highest rates of 30-34 year olds with higher education attainment in the OECD with over half of 25-34 year olds having completed higher education.
In 2016/17 there were 43,569 new full-time undergraduate entrants into higher education. This represents a 10% increase in the last 5 years. 79% of new entrants went into an Honours Bachelor Degree programme. In total there are 225,628 students enrolled in higher education in Ireland. Over 6% of the country’s adult population is now enrolled in a higher education programme. The latest HEA report “A study of progression in Irish HE 2014/15 to 2015/16” indicates that 86% of first year students progressed to their second year.
In terms of investment, Budget 2018 saw investment in higher and further education increasing €100 million above 2016 levels. This will allow for an additional 2,100 student places to be provided this year. There is also a significant ramping up of Government investment on the capital side of the higher education sector and over a 10 year period, investment of some €2.2 billion is envisaged.
The focus of the Action Plan for Education 2018 is on excellence and innovation. In the higher education sector there is a new Systems Performance Framework and new funding arrangements are being put in place. These will see more funding for STEM courses, the introduction of an Innovation Fund and a performance fund to reward institutions who excel in particular areas, as well as new funding streams for research and incentivised life-long, part-time and flexible learning opportunities.
The Further Education and Training (FET) sector has undergone transformational reform in recent years bringing together Further Education and Training as a single sector to firmly establish it as the fourth pillar of the national education system. The Further Education and Training Strategy 2014-2019 sets out a vision to transform the sector to deliver a world-class integrated system of further education and training that will support economic development, increase social inclusion and to meet the needs of all who engage with FET.
In addition, the Technological Universities Act 2018 was signed into law on 19 March 2018. This is a sea-change in the higher education landscape and provides the legal framework for the establishment of a new type of higher education institution, building on the strengths of individual institutions but achieving a greater critical mass and scale. Technological universities will provide an opportunity to drive regional development and provide more opportunities for students, staff, enterprise and local and regional communities. They will have a significant reach, impact and influence regionally, nationally and internationally. Already the first application for TU designation was made last month by DIT, IT Blanchardstown and IT Tallaght and three other consortia, comprising 7 IoTs, are working towards making applications.
Ireland has a strong track record, too, in research and innovation, and Irish researchers have been very successful under Horizon 2020’s highly competitive international funding stream. Under Horizon 2020, to January 2018 Irish researchers had secured funding to the value of €513 million, of which nearly 53% was won by higher education institutions. In 2016, we achieved a world ranking of 10th for the overall quality of our scientific research, an increase of 26 places in only 13 years; and we also made significant improvements in our global rankings for individual subjects, for example, we are 2nd in the world for nanotechnology, Animal and Dairy, and Immunology; 3rd for Material Sciences and Agricultural Sciences; and 4th for Mathematics. In 2016/17 there were 7,962 full time enrolments in postgraduate research. Total full time enrolment in postgraduate programmes has increased from 21,780 in 2012/13 to 23,092 in 2016/17.
