Ms Brigid McManus:

On the all-Ireland basis, we work with the CCEA. I have met the chair and the chief executives of both organisations have a fair bit of contact. Our own chief executive is in one of the CCEA advisory groups. It is probably fair to say that the work is not so much about developing joint curricula which would apply in both places, as the systems are a bit different, and more about the exchange of practice. For example, we are currently doing a lot of exchange on classroom assessment for learning at primary and second level. Assessment for learning is a big theme at the moment. It is more about learning from each other's experience than developing common things. In my previous role, the Department would have developed certain common resources which schools could use in areas such as special needs and literacy. Although the curricula are a bit different in the two systems, there is a lot of joint work.

On Irish, it is a real challenge. The whole issue of qualified teachers is not quite within the remit of the NCCA. Whether we are looking at the primary languages curriculum, which we have just finalised, or Gaeilge in the junior cycle, which is out for consultation, we must address the different needs. The new primary languages curriculum is a single language curriculum, rather than having an Irish one and an English one in all schools. It has certain outcomes for L1, language one, and L2, language two. An English-medium school will have L1 outcomes for English and L2 outcomes for Irish, while an Irish-medium school will have L1 outcomes for Irish and L2 outcomes for English.

When we get to junior cycle, one of the major issues that has come up in the consultation under way on Gaeilge is that we envisaged one curriculum for junior cycle. One of the issues that has been raised with us and which we will have to examine further is whether, to be sufficiently challenging for people who have Irish as a first language, one needs to be looking at a different curriculum for people where it is language one or language two. That has implications for the senior cycle. There is no doubt there are big challenges both in curriculum design and for delivery, not so much in schools where English is language one and one does not have students coming in who do not necessarily have English as a family language, but it is far more complicated in Gaeilge for people. There are real issues around curriculum design.

On the STEM subjects, we are looking at more engagement. The primary science curriculum has been very successful in terms of student engagement. The old revised junior certificate science curriculum and the greater emphasis on practical has produced much more student engagement. Some of what we are trying to do in the new curriculum we have just developed for the three leaving certificate science curricula is to make them more engaging and modern for all students. We are hoping that will also engage girls as well as boys but there is a challenge. The practical focus in leaving certificate science means that we want new assessment arrangements so that a fair chunk of the marking will be a practical assessment. That will be a challenge for the State Examinations Commission for external assessment as it will have to be trialled in a number of schools. That has a cost. We will have to see how we can make that work. In terms of engagement in STEM subjects, there is nothing specifically targeted at girls. It is more about trying to make it modern and get into our system the best of 21st century science education that has been proven to work elsewhere.