Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Deputy raising that. Considerable emphasis is being placed on STEM. We have made significant reform in the curricula available in schools.

It has been implemented particularly in primary and the junior cycle maths side of it, the leaving certificate computer science programmes, agricultural science and the new senior cycle specifications developed for chemistry, physics and biology. With all of them, there is significant reform that very much promotes the whole notion of STEM. There is also significant work being done across initial teacher education, so there is a grounding in this. A part of initial teacher education specifically includes curriculum studies, which is again grounded in the whole STEM area.

The Department is a significant supporter of a variety of initiatives that support this move, whether it is the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, ESB Science Blast, iWish, which is specifically aimed at young girls, and, equally, the STEM Passport for Inclusion, which is a very significant programme. It is a successful one that links with Maynooth University, the MTUs and ATU, and it is around encouraging girls into the area of STEM. In fact, students then get points that they can use for further study once they complete their leaving certificate. There was also a significant body of work done by a group chaired by Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin on the idea of encouraging more girls into STEM and rooting it within our schools but also in the idea of opportunity. Hence, I think the work around STEM Passport is particularly significant because it opens up roots, particularly in DEIS schools, for young girls to walk into and appreciate the world of STEM.