Dr. Anne Looney:

I was chief executive of the NCCA until 2015. While I am not up to speed with the NCCA's current work, I am up to speed with its ongoing commitment to consultation and contestation. As chief executive, I always said - and I know from the current chief executive, Arlene Forster - that the fundamental belief is that if there is no contestation, we might as well pack our bags and go home. It is very important that we, as a nation, engage in contestation on all of the issues, whether it is learning outcomes or the position of Irish. When we stop doing so, the school curriculum becomes something very frightening indeed. It is very important we have those debates. If the consultation on senior cycle is anything to go by, it is likely to map out a range of options from the relatively conservative and small scale to the more extensive. As Professor Hyland said, the pandemic has kind of changed the game and the dynamic around where we sit on education. There is a moment here that may mean that when the report is published, it may get a reaction not about being ready for more of the same but one that says we need to engage with a bigger range of change. Other than that, I have to be very up front and say, like other people on the committee, I have not seen the report.