Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
334. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education the progress made by her Department in respect of its targets and goals set out in Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development under the policy remit of her Department; if these targets and goals will be met by their respective deadlines; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7275/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraA renewed focus is currently being given to progress Ireland’s commitment to Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Substantial progress has been achieved in recent months in respect of reviewing Ireland’s implementation of Agenda 2030 and identifying key priorities and actions for inclusion in the next National Implementation Plan. It is intended that the draft Plan will be made available shortly and form the basis of discussion at the next SDG National Stakeholder Forum. This will allow for a final round of input from stakeholders prior to finalisation and publication.
Ireland has adopted a ‘whole-of-Government’ approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with each Minister having responsibility for implementing individual SDG targets related to their functions. My Department has responsibility for leading implementation of the following:
1. National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) (SDG 4.7)
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is both an SDG target in itself and acknowledged as a key enabler for achieving all 17 SDGs.
The Department together with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science are currently in the process of developing a second National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to 2030.
ESD to 2030 will be built on the UNESCO framework for ESD for 2030 and will be built on the five pillars set out therein, i.e. policy alignment, transforming learning environments, capacity building, empowering and mobilising youth and community engagement. A joint public consultation has been conducted and the results will inform the direction of ESD to 2030 which will also have an accompanying implementation plan for 2022 to 2026.
Under the first ESD strategy 2014 – 2020, significant work was done integrating ESD themes and principles into the curriculum at all levels, into the assessment and inspection processes and into Initial teacher education and continuing professional development. ESD to 2030 will build on this work ensuring that the 2030 target is met.
www.gov.ie/en/publication/02952d-national-strategy-on-education-for-sustainable-development-in-irelan/
This work also contributes to SDG 13 - Climate Action and to Ireland's Climate Action Pan.
2. Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) (SDG 4.5)
DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level. In the 2021/22 academic year there are 884 schools in the DEIS Programme - 687 Primary and 197 Post Primary, serving over 180,000 pupils. This represents approximately 20% of the overall school population. The total Department spend on DEIS in 2021 was over €150 million, which includes over €26 million for the School Completion Programme (SCP). The DEIS programme provides for smaller class sizes and other supports including additional teaching posts, Home School Community Liaison Coordinators, DEIS grants, enhanced book grants, curriculum supports and priority access to Continuing Professional Development.
Budget 2022 has allocated the largest-ever increase in funding for the DEIS programme (DEIS Identification Model) , providing for an additional allocation of €18 million in 2022 (€32 million over a full year) which will enable an expansion in 2022 of the DEIS programme to further schools. This means that by 2023 the Department of Education will target over €180 million at addressing educational disadvantage through the DEIS programme, an increase of 20% on the 2021 allocation. This package follows an extensive body of work which has been under taken by the DEIS technical group in relation to the development of a model to identify the concentrated levels of disadvantage of schools. The refined DEIS Identification model is an objective, statistics based process, based on school enrolment data and data available from Census 2016 under the HP Deprivation Index. It is important to note that there is no application process for the DEIS programme and all schools will be considered under the refined DEIS model when it is applied. In advance of the implementation of the refined DEIS identification model, there will be further engagement with relevant stakeholders. The purpose is to ensure that, as far as possible, the refined DEIS identification model can provide an objective and independent means of identifying schools serving high concentrations of pupils at risk of educational disadvantage and also to ensure there is a full understanding of the refined model and its potential application.
3. STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026 (SDG 4.5)
A Review of Literature to Identify a Set of Effective Interventions for Addressing Gender Balance in STEM in Early Years, Primary and Post-Primary Education Settings was published in November 2020. The report sets out what is known about critical barriers to girls’ participation in STEM education and STEM learning, while also highlighting effective interventions to increase participation of girls in STEM. Development of a set of recommendations to guide national actions in relation to gender balance in STEM have been developed and will be published shortly. Development of the second STEM Education implementation Plan 2022-2026 is underway to include public consultation and targeted education stakeholder/partners consultations. The outputs from the consultation process along with the Gender balance in STEM recommendations and STEM and the Arts recommendations that are being developed at present will inform the new implementation plan. The Implementation Plan is expected to be ready for publication by the end of Q2 2022.
4. Literacy and Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy (SDG 4.6)
The Literacy and Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2011-2020 has now expired. Development of a follow on strategy is underway with research commissioned to include the identification of achievements, gaps, best practice and possible areas for action for the new 10 year strategy. This research is due to be finalised and with the Department of Education in the coming weeks. This will inform stakeholder engagement and public consultation which will also feed into the development of the new strategy.
5. Review of the School Transport Scheme (SDG 4.a )
My Department commenced a review of the School Transport Scheme in February 2021. The review is examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness and sustainability, with a view to ensuring that it serves students and their families appropriately. The review will build upon the commitments within the Programme for Government as they relate to school transport and includes for an examination of options to reduce car journeys, commitments in respect of climate action and the potential of the School Transport Scheme to support broader government aims of promoting sustainability in transport. The review is also examining promoting where possible initiatives that encourage walking and cycling to school , including assessing how the School Transport Scheme can work in liaison with the Safe Routes to Schools Programme which is funded by the Department of Transport and operated by Green-schools in partnership with the National Transport Authority and the local authorities.
Following commencement of this review, the Steering Group presented the Minister with an initial interim report on eligibility with an examination of issues for mainstream pupils relating to the nearest and next nearest school. Following consideration of this report, the Minister approved the extension of temporary alleviation measures in the current school year for transport for post-primary students who are otherwise eligible for school transport but are attending their second nearest school and have applied and paid on time.
Wider considerations relating to operation of the scheme are now taking place in the next phase of the review which is currently underway. As part of this phase of the review, the Department is currently conducting an extensive stakeholder engagement process. The Department is inviting stakeholders to share their views and opinions so that they may be considered as part of the assessment and in informing policy on the future operation of the scheme. The Steering Group will continue to report to me on an interim basis as the review progresses.
This work also contributes to SDG 13 - Climate Action and to Ireland's Climate Action Pan.
6. Schools Energy retrofit Pathfinder Programme (SDG 4.a )
My Department is at the forefront of design with respect to sustainable energy in school buildings and this performance has been recognised at both National and International level with sustainable energy awards for excellence in Design and Specification.
My Department’s Technical Guidance Documents set the benchmark for sustainable design in school buildings with a clear focus on energy efficiency and they are based on solid energy research projects.
Schools that are designed and built in accordance with the Department’s schools technical guidance documents have been achieving A3 Building Energy Ratings since 2009 with current schools typically achieving up to 20% higher performance than required by the current Building Regulations, along with 10% of primary energy provided via photovoltaics and infrastructure provision for electric vehicle charging.
All new technologies and approaches are tested to ensure compatibility with school design and operational requirements. Successful and repeatable results are then incorporated into all new school designs and refurbishments. The Departments policy is supported by a strong research programme with fifty three research projects at various stages including the energy website www.energyineducation.ie. which is a joint partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
In the interest of sustainability, it is critical that renewable applications are properly suited to the schools needs and not just applied for the sake of having a renewable tag on a school. It is also critical that we minimise the demand for energy before we invest in renewable energy applications. This has been assisted in previous years with the wall and attic insulation programme and the water conservation programme.
My Department and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications established a jointly funded pathfinder programme with the SEAI, testing and demonstrating energy efficiency and decarbonisation retrofit approaches. This pathfinder is a great example of collaboration ensuring the deployment of new design approaches and technologies are introduced to the educational environment on an evidence based approach.
This Pathfinder programme is paving the way for, and informing, a much larger national schools’ programme for the energy retrofit of schools built prior to 2008 as included in the National Development Plan. It is facilitating research on a range of typical retrofit options, which will have been tried and tested. It is providing valuable development information for a solution driven delivery strategy which will be founded on a solid evidence base that has proven the robustness and scalability of renewable solutions within the schools’ sector.
The longer-term outcome of the pathfinder will be to create an accurate and scalable model for energy efficient retrofits of schools across Ireland. The deep energy retrofit programme for schools built prior to 2008 is due to be rolled out as included in the National Development Plan. The pathfinder programme has retrofitted 41 schools across Ireland to date with work on an additional 9 schools added in 2021 underway. 2022 sees six additional schools undergoing deep retrofit to a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B with renewable heating systems. Each school undergoes a comprehensive assessment to ensure that the measures are suitable for that school and will deliver value to both the school and learnings for the national retrofit programme.
This work also contributes to SDG 13 - Climate Action and to Ireland's Climate Action Pan.
7. SDG co-ordination and reporting
My Department is an active member of the SDG Senior Officials Group and Interdepartmental Working Group and is working with it’s colleagues in the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications to ensure that we fully play our part in delivering on the SDG National Implementation Plan.
The Central Statistics Office has developed the SDG geohive and is producing a series of reports on Ireland’s progress against each of the SDGs. The report on SDG 4 – Quality Education is available here: irelandsdg.geohive.ie/pages/goal4
