Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Bhí mé sásta a léamh inniu go bhfuil sé i gceist ag an Aire an stair a chaomhnú mar ábhar. I welcome his decision to give history special core status as a subject for the junior certificate. I must ask, however, as other Members have, what exactly is special core status? I am sure the Minister will take this opportunity to clarify that. He said in his statement that one of his three ultimate goals is to see every junior cycle student learn about history. What exactly does that mean? Will history be a module that students learn in first and second years but not third year? Will it be protected and given the same number of hours as every other core subject in the junior cycle? I am looking for clarity on that before he gets the full céad míle fáilte from An Comhaontas Ghlas on his decision.

In this decade of commemorations, when we look back on the rich tapestry of our national history, I cannot think of any better time to confirm this subject as a core part of the junior cycle curriculum. This decision by the Minister will give every child the opportunity to learn about our shared past and the richness of human experience. It has been said that history is not only a doorway to the past but also a gateway to the future. Anyone who takes even a cursory look at what is happening now with Brexit on our island and the concerns we have will know the power of our past to influence our present. They will also know how vital a knowledge of our history can be in healing the wounds of the past and allowing the scars to fade. We owe it to our children to ensure they have an understanding of our past. History as a discipline is more than just a study of the past; it equips students with the skills to analyse critically and synthesise information from multiple sources and to develop their own robust opinions from the evidence available. It has never been easier for us to access information; at every moment we have an enormous amount of knowledge at our fingertips.

However, every source has a bias and every blog and website is infused with the perspectives and prejudices of the author who created it. History trains students to cast a critical eye on everything they read, to see the perspective from which information is being provided and to weigh it accordingly. This type of epistemology should be considered a basic foundation of the education system and it is why history deserves core status. I commend the Minister on making the decision to protect history, but I seek clarity on exactly what the special core status is.

I urge the Minister to re-examine the status of geography in the junior cycle. I understand that before he was elected to the Dáil he was a geography teacher in Donegal, so he does not need me to tell him that geography gives us an understanding not just of the physical, natural world around us but of the myriad people, cultures and ways of life across the globe. Geography is crucial to educating students on climate change, one of the most urgent issues facing us, although I am delighted that students across the world are educating many governments on climate change and urging them to act.

History and geography are at the core of our understanding of the world around us and both subjects should be core subjects in the junior cycle.

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