Mr. Ken Whyte:

Regarding small schools, I will keep my answer within reference to the Youthreach scheme, if I may, which is the particular area I am discussing today. We discovered during the Covid period that by being able to extend digital skills to smaller centres, particularly Youthreach centres, which often have weaker learners and much smaller numbers, it allowed us to keep those learners in the education system and get them to the leaving certificate applied examination. Without investing in that technology, it would not have happened for them. During the Covid period, the disparity between those who had access to digital capability, and all the tools that go with it, and those who did not was quite broad. Students who did not have access were severely disadvantaged. It is the nature of society that the more disadvantaged one is, the further one is from achieving educationally. That is one of the reasons we draw attention to this issue.

On the point regarding literacy and numeracy, we have found, particularly through the Youthreach model over 30-odd years, that the impact of literacy and numeracy deficits can be devastating for a young person. It is hard to believe that someone can get to 16 years of age and be barely able to write a letter or comprehend a piece of normal English writing. We are not even talking about foreign languages. People do not realise the impact that has on an individual. This is one of the things the leaving certificate applied examination assesses, and the Youthreach model is very much about increasing those skills. Without good literacy and numeracy skills, one cannot get into an electrician apprenticeship scheme, for instance, and one will suffer in many other apprenticeship schemes. With all due respect, nobody wants an electrician with poor literacy or numeracy skills wiring a fuse board. I fully agree with the Deputy on the importance of this issue. It is a problem we have not yet got to the bottom of and it impacts on the leaving certificate examination down the road. We keep drawing attention to it because we consider it very important.