Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
330. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the status of the implementation of A Programme for a Partnership Government as it applies to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24608/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, the Government has published three Progress Reports on the Programme for Partnership Government, the most recent being in December last and will shortly publish the 2018 Annual Report.
Earlier this year, I published the end of year review on the 2017 Action Plan for Education and also launched the 2018 Action Plan for Education outlining hundreds of actions and sub-actions that will be implemented during the year.
Key achievements in the past year include:
- An increase of €554 m in the 2018 Education budget including €60 m for higher education
- 2,730 extra teachers recruited in 2017 with the pupil teacher ratio reduced to 26:1
- Updated DEIS Plan and expansion of the scheme to include 79 new schools
- Awarding of the first Junior Cycle Profiles of Achievements and new specifications for Irish, Modern Foreign Languages and Visual Art and a new Junior Cycle Wellbeing programme
- A New grading system and common points scheme introduced for the Leaving Certificate
- 3 new subjects at Senior Cycle - Politics and Society, Physical Education and Computer Science
- First transfer of school patronage under new Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process
- Updated child protection procedures for schools to take into account the new statutory mandated reporting and child safeguarding requirements
- The National Skills Council and the nine Regional Skills Fora launched to drive the National Skills Strategy
- 6,471 places are being provided on 208 Springboard+courses over the academic year 2017/18
- 26 new apprenticeship programmes approved for further development into national apprenticeships following the second call for apprenticeship programmes
- 46 large-scale school building projects completed in 2017
- €16.5 m announced to support new initiatives to widen access to higher education over the next three years, with a strong focus on Lone Parents and Disadvantaged Groups
- Enactment of the Technological Universities Act 2018 for the creation of Technological Universities as drivers of regional growth and development.
My Department will continue to work with its agencies and stakeholders to ensure we deliver on the commitments set for it in the Programme for Government and to ensure we meet the goal we have set that the Irish Education and Training system will be the best in Europe by 2026.
