Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the officials who have joined us. I am aware that this is an important issue for the Minister. She has outlined her commitment around STEM, and access for girls in particular, and I could not disagree with anything she said about any of the work that she has done in this regard.

In the past we have seen a very low take-up of apprenticeships by girls. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Simon Harris, said that 5% was the legacy for girls going into apprenticeships. I believe we need a joined up approach between primary, secondary and tertiary education. I am aware that work is under way. It would be a good opportunity to outline that with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, and with the Minister's own announcements about leaving certificate reform. This would be reflected in that. Is there more work that could be done before that around having more mentorship and an approach that is more akin to transition year but going right through all of the years so that it is much more hands-on? We have a legacy in the State of, quite rightly, thinking that third level education is something we all want to have available to everyone. There is a certain image of what third level education looks like but we are a very different society now. Those would be my first couple of questions.

I am glad the Minister addressed the SPHE question. That issue strongly came up when Mr. David Byrne of the Technological University Dublin appeared before the committee last week. Mr. Byrne specifically mentioned that it did not appear to be accredited and that this was a concern. It is important to see how this is being addressed. I am very happy to see that there are times now for the conclusion of the work on the RSE programme. At this stage it is hard to say what that is going to look like, so I will reserve my comments.

Last week the Irish Second-Level Students' Union, ISSU, was quite clear that a lot of people are getting their information online and they do not feel there is enough in schools around sexuality education. Given the ages of students in secondary school, they are crying out for information to be provided in a genuine way. They are going through a change in their lives and there needs to be joined-up approach. I mentioned some of the websites available that are actually other Departments' websites. For example, consenthub.ieis a joint project between the Department of Justice and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Is the Minister looking at ways we could connect with young people when they are through the education system? There is no point in having a very formalised education in schools that does not speak to young people. It must be all joined up and the information has to be current and reflective of their lived experiences.