Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for her contribution. No one here is more experienced than she is in the area of education. All speakers made valid points. I note that 50% of students now take grinds, which surely mitigates against those who come from a disadvantaged or vulnerable background. This must be borne in mind.

It is interesting to note in the written submissions and the views expressed by those representing teachers and students a divergence of opinion on this matter. We all want students to have a positive, holistic experience of education. We want them to be educated for life and helped to learn the skills and resilience they will need to find employment and live their lives.

Ms Leydon referred to benchmarking the Irish system against the systems of other European countries and noted that we are doing well in the PISA rankings. While it is important to benchmark, would transitioning to continuous assessment facilitate effective benchmarking against other European countries? Would such a transition and enabling greater student engagement have a significant impact on early school leaving? I expect it would. It is very important that we should not focus only on students who will do well in the points system but also support those who are at the bottom of the class, so to speak, in terms of achievement and attainment. Does the current educational model impact on the use and take-up of new technology? I expect that it probably does. Does the system have the capacity to make the transition to continuous assessment? What needs to be done in this regard, both in the system and in terms of teacher training? I acknowledge that this will cause great upheaval for students and teachers.

I propose to open the discussion again to stakeholders. I will take speakers in the order in which they indicate. We will then have a second round of questions from members.