Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I made the point earlier that there is an increased allocation of time, starting in September, for CSPE alone. It is up to 100 hours. It is a very significant allocation of time across the timetable. It is an underlining of the commitment we have to the importance of the subject. I do not believe it needs the examinations title to give it the importance it deserves. The fact that we are increasing the time allocation for it is testament to the importance we place on it.

Both the Deputy and Senator raised the issue of the gender division of schools. Some 90% of our primary schools are mixed gender and approximately 69% of post-primary schools are mixed gender. Generally, all our new schools, because they meet the demographics and the accommodation needs of an area, are also mixed gender. Somewhere along the line in the great debate about single-sex schools or mixed-gender schools, that statistic of 90% is very high for primary school. It is quite a high statistic for post-primary schools. Again, for a variety of reasons, most notably the demographic that is being served in new schools and the accommodation needs, our new schools are mixed gender also.

Regarding the teaching issue, it is almost a reverse here in terms of there not being the male role models. The Deputy referred to primary school. It is interesting to note that in the leadership roles in primary schools more than 2,000 of them are female principals and more than 1,000 of them are male principals. That is interesting in itself. A significant body of work is being done on the promotion of teaching through the Teaching Transforms programme. I accept the necessity to have an equal representation of genders. It goes back to a phrase that is used consistently, "If you cannot see it, you cannot be it", so it is very important that co-equality would exist. We are doing a huge body of work through the Teaching Transforms programme to encourage diversity in the teaching and wider education sector. It is not just the teaching sector, but all those who work within the education sector. That is not even just from the male and female genders. There is also diversity. We need to see people of all backgrounds and all ethnic groups teaching and working and being part of school communities. It was my great pleasure recently to have the opportunity to visit the graduation in Marino Institute of Education of migrant teachers, for example. They are superbly, highly-qualified individuals who are now enriching our school environment. It is a body of work to continue to encourage that.

The Deputy also raised subject choice for schools. I referred to that earlier as well. Resourcing of key subject areas is a priority for the Department, particularly areas that are a pinch point in our schools. The Deputy referred to science. We have a very strong upskilling programme, with a big uptake for it, to increase the availability of that staff. A consideration that is sometimes lost, and I referred to this earlier, is also committing to the reduction of the pupil-teacher ratio because the smaller class size number suits some of those subject areas. It also improves subject choice availability in a school. As I said, where there is a specific challenge for a school we ask the school to contact us directly to see what scope we have in terms of whatever the additional resource is that might be required to make something happen.