Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 25 January 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Leaving Certificate Reform: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Dalton Tattan:

I will hand over to Ms O'Connor in a moment to talk about the ongoing work on guidance. However, we have a very close connection with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I am conscious that these two sets of issues cut across both Departments. We want to ensure there is alignment and continuity across the experience that students have. Apprenticeships are one area the State has put real effort into, both to encourage development of new apprenticeships in new areas in recent years and to encourage take-up of traditional apprenticeship of course. We are on a journey in terms of the prestige mentioned earlier by another contributor. A good deal of work and investment has been put in to ensure these are being seen as real opportunities and real options for students. Ms O'Connor will say more about that.