Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment. I know he will bring his experience as a teacher to the role, which will be very valuable. Members of the committee are looking forward to working with him in a constructive way. This consideration of the action plan for education gives us an opportunity to feed into the plan, which is critical.

We are considering the area of well-being. It is a commonly used word for which people have different definitions. We need to take a holistic approach on the issue. I agree with Deputy Byrne that much of it relates to the schools education system. I am from a primary school teaching background. Ultimately, this issue goes back to education. We need to give our children a very good start in life in terms of mental health and well-being, whatever the definition of that may be.

On well-being and empathy, one may score ten for well-being on a scale of zero to ten but not very high for empathy. One may be feeling very good and have great self confidence and belief in oneself but empathy is one's ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It is proven that a high level of empathy not only relates to academic performance but also indicates that one is a well rounded person and can empathise with others. That should be considered not only as it relates to children but also across society on issues such as social media, bullying and relationship and sexual education, on which this committee has done a significant amount of work. One can teach empathy but one must begin doing so at a very young age. That must be taken on board in terms of how it is introduced through education. Pilot schemes are taking place across the country in that regard and much good work is being done.

Reference was made to outside groups coming into schools. They are doing so because there is a void in many communities and primary and secondary schools which are crying out for help and assistance in that regard. That needs to be monitored to ensure that the correct people are going into our schools. It is the responsibility of school principals to vet such people. Obviously, the Department should have a role in that regard. That issue arose during committee discussion of relationship and sexuality education and how it should be taught in schools taking into account ethos, different cultures and the diversity in our society. We now have a more complex society than we did when members were going to school.

On teachers and leadership within schools, it is of great importance for teachers to receive such training through the teacher training colleges. When I was going through teacher training more than ten years ago there was no reference to the well-being of teachers or pupils, mental health or how to deal with such issues. Teachers are fantastic and have great instincts and can see issues which arise in their class as they deal with the young people all the time. However, we need to give teachers the extra tools they need to be able to respond to a particular crisis or a concern they may have regarding their pupils.

I have only been a member of the committee for a couple of months and did not contribute to its report on positive mental health in schools. There is reference in the report to the recognition of non-academic achievements, which is very important. The arts are a great tool for exploring emotions and difficulties that may arise within a school without having to directly deal with or pinpoint particular issues with students. It provides an opportunity for such issues to be explored as a school community. There are many innovative ways to deal with mental health and well-being and we should consider best practice in this area. These issues relate to the staff of schools as well as pupils. Just because one teaches English, history or maths does not mean that one does not deal with well-being. A cross-school and cross-community approach to the issue is needed. We all have memories of school teachers who had a great influence on us and that often results from kindness and understanding and a teacher reaching out. Such behaviour comes from the culture within a school and that is created by the school management. There is only so much that the Department and the Government can do. This is about what is happening in a local community. There need to be and are leaders within communities who are doing great work behind the scenes and in the best interests of their students.

Education is a key factor in this issue and we need to begin to address it when children are at a very young age. The culture needs to start in our teacher training colleges in terms of training our teachers and then providing the resources when they begin teaching.