Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 November 2018
84. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a stock take of existing facilities for arts in education was undertaken as recommended by the Arts in Education Charter; the findings of the stocktake; the steps taken in relation to those findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46082/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Arts in Education Charter, launched in 2013, is a joint initiative of the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht working in association with the Arts Council to promote arts-in-education. The Charter sets out a number of commitments, including section 4.10 which stated that “the Minister for Education and Skills will also consider a stock-take of existing facilities. That stock-take would inform future provision, co-location and shared use of facilities”.
An initiative to map organisations, events, artists and locations at national, regional and local level throughout the country, as outlined in the Arts in Education Charter, is currently under development, and will be drawn upon for arts-in-education purposes. This mapping will be in the form of a national digital mapping/directory. This will be incorporated on the Arts-In-Education Portal (www.artsineducation.ie ) on an incremental basis, but with a substantial amount of the work completed by the end of this year. This will be a major resource for schools and all stakeholders and will also help to highlight areas of low provision, with a view to its remediation. This work is being overseen by the Arts in Education Portal Editorial Committee which was established under the auspices of the Charter.
As the Deputy will be aware, Creative Youth, a plan to enable the creativity of every child and young person was published in December 2017. This Plan aims to ensure that every child in Ireland has practical access to tuition, experience and participation in music, drama, arts and coding by 2022. The actions in the Creative Youth Plan extend to both the formal and non-formal education sectors and are being delivered by my Department, the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Arts Council. The Creative Youth is building on the Arts in Education Charter and aims to resource, fast-track and implement the objectives of the Charter.
