Ms Rita Sexton:

There have been some calls for home economics to be made a mandatory subject. As the Deputy will be aware, we have a challenge of a curriculum overload, so there are no plans to make it a mandatory subject. Many first-year students are offered a taster menu and would have the option to study that and that may give them the interest to carry on with that subject. The transition year programme also includes a cooking module. The whole area of healthy eating and nutrition is very well addressed in the SPHE curriculum.