Ms Arlene Forster:

I will build on Ms Feeney's comments from a curriculum perspective. The Deputy touched on something that was a very prominent theme throughout the review of the senior cycle, which focused on how can a redeveloped senior cycle support all students more equitably? That is very much echoed in the three main areas I drew attention to in our opening statement. Of those three areas, I draw particular attention to the area of pathways and flexibility. That was identified as being one of the key levers in ensuring that a redeveloped senior cycle would much better meet the needs of all young people who enter into the senior cycle stage of their education and by that opening up of different pathways and routes through senior cycle. For example, one action we identified coming out of the review was the importance of having much greater choice for young people in the type of programme they would experience as part of the senior cycle. Part of that would include auditing current provision across our programmes with an eye to finding ways to provide greater opportunity for young people in technical and professional learning and learning in the creative area. That is with a view to leaving young people in a much better position to transition into whatever path they choose to follow, whether that is straight into apprenticeships, further or higher education or directly into the world of work.

Another area that the advisory report highlights holds great potential for the Deputy's question about access for young people to the range of subjects that even currently makes up the senior cycle. It is about exploring the power of technology and the possibility perhaps of a combination of online learning but also of blended learning. We have some experience in our system that we can draw on. For instance, island schools have some provision for people to access some of the science subjects by using technology. Consequently, we have small amounts of experience that we can draw on. In the advisory report, we flag up the potential of technology to really contribute to access and in particular to ensure that students can be supported more equitably.

Working directly with schools is important. In the advisory report, we really emphasised our clear commitment to continuing to working very closely with schools in all of the work in the redevelopment of the senior cycle. When we talk about more flexibility and choice and different pathways through the senior cycle, it will be really important that we work closely with schools to look in real terms at what works, what are the challenges and how we work around them. We have committed to do that. One of the ambitions has the area of equity particularly in mind. There is lots of potential there but we have a lot of work still to do to work out the detail. We see a number of those areas as offering huge potential to address equity.