Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. Some of their inputs have been positive. There has been some criticism of the Department in the past for being overly conservative and I have not seen that today. We have a lengthy report coming out and we have done a huge amount of work. I would like to understand from the witnesses what interactions they have had with the academic community. I would also like to discuss some of the policy decisions, particularly from the NCCA because we have heard some interesting testimony from some academics during the course of compiling this report.

Apprenticeships have been mentioned and it is fair to say that the future is a green one. We are probably not seeing the amount of education that we need at the moment. There has been significant investment in third level education but that is very recent and one of the difficulties is how we ensure that younger students in second and even first level education would go into the kind of areas where the future is likely to be. I would like to think that if we concentrated more on mentorships and transforming the school system so that it appears more like transition year throughout school, that could have an influence on what people choose to do because they would have some experience.

However, now we have quite an academic model of education, which is leading people in a different direction.

The Department has shown it would consider remodelling assessment. That was a positive evident in the previous contribution, particularly in light of the flexibility shown in other jurisdictions during the pandemic, which shows the importance of such flexibility. The conversation on a hybrid model leaving certificate is probably about having such flexibility. What may be needed is not so much a hybrid model as having continuous assessment. Currently, students are very much under pressure. While it is important to consider a hybrid model for this year, we need to consider a continuous assessment model into the future.

The pandemic has had an influence on the way people view caring work in society. I would reference the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality. If we were to carry out a similar exercise, people would have a very different approach to education following the pandemic than they had prior to it. We are at a crucial point now. I have spoken for way too long and note the time I have taken. I would welcome any thoughts the witnesses would have on those comments.