Mr. Barry Convey:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it and make this submission today. The Engineering Technology Teachers Association, ETTA, is a voluntary administered subject association. It is a teacher professional network representing teachers of engineering, technology, and design and communication graphics, DCG. The association was founded in 1983 by engineering teachers collectively to promote engineering in education in Ireland. As a teacher professional network, we support teachers by creating networking opportunities through training, upskilling and continuing professional development, CPD. We represent teachers through various committees and communicate with a wide range of agencies on their behalf.

My primary degree is a bachelor of materials in engineering and technology education. This qualifies me to teach engineering technology and DCG.

I have also completed the professional diploma in mathematics for teaching, which qualifies me to teach mathematics. I also have experience teaching science and mathematics. This leaves me in the unique position of being able to comment on all aspects of STEM education.

First of all, we acknowledge the work done by the Department of Education, the NCCA and others, in creating a more positive experience for students of STEM and also acknowledge Junior Cycle for Teachers, JCT, and the Professional Development Service for Teachers, PDST, in the efforts made in the provision of CPD for teachers and their continuing pedagogical support and resource creation. We would like to acknowledge the SEC for the progression of our subjects through the supreme quality of the examination papers, dynamic projects and assessment tasks, and specifically the support video and materials, which ensures accessibility to all our students.

We welcome the STEM Education Policy Statement 2017-2026, while acknowledging that progress has not been at the pace hoped for in the past few years, although we are buoyed at the pace at which things are beginning to take off in recent months. We also welcome the developments at junior cycle level, specifically in the development of the new specifications for engineering, applied technology and graphics. These developments have been acknowledged on the ground in schools, with a significant increase in participation rates in all these specifications.

In this arena, we in the ETTA find ourselves coming back to the question: "What is STEM?" While having conversations about STEM, the central pillars of technology and engineering - the "T" and "E" - are regularly absent from discussions. When primary students attend open nights in our post-primary schools, it quickly becomes apparent to our members that there is an absence of knowledge and awareness and a lack of full understanding of the breadth of STEM, in particular technology and engineering. This absence of knowledge and awareness is compounded by an apparent deficit in confidence of primary teachers to deliver an holistic understanding of STEM and its associated subjects to their students. We welcome the publication of the primary curriculum framework in recent days and how it intends help to address this deficit.

The parents of the current cohort of primary students experienced a fundamentally different primary education and they are, in large part, not cognisant of the direction post-primary subjects have taken at junior cycle. The new specifications of engineering, applied technology and graphics are fundamentally different from the syllabi they have replaced. We call for a national awareness campaign to promote STEM through emphasising the new specifications and the skill set associated with each specification. The purpose of this national campaign would be to standardise the information being delivered to primary school students across the country so that we can educate parents, teachers and students of the importance of STEM in the modern Irish context. This advertising campaign, supported in a meaningful way through resources and funding, along with a move to more co-ed schools, lends itself to levelling the playing field and improving access to STEM for all students.

What we feel is required is the sharing of information with all primary school teachers, all primary school parents and guardians, and all primary school students to inform them of what STEM is, the subjects associated with STEM, the skill sets developed by engaging with STEM and the career paths and progression opportunities available. This message needs to be consistently delivered through all radio stations, national media and social media, and it must feature prominently at key times of the year to ensure students are fully aware of the links between the STEM they have experienced in primary and how it will continue through post-primary education and into tertiary education.

The model created, currently being implemented by the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence in the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, LMETB, will deliver the required CPD for primary and post-primary educators to implement and embed a meaningful STEM framework. This model identifies skill deficits and allows for the scaffolded development of bespoke training programmes for teachers. AMTCE's focus is to create programmes for students which require teacher support, while upskilling teachers in the required areas of STEM. Through a variety of student-focused initiatives, a positive STEM experience is fostered and facilitates opportunities to increase the number of students experiencing STEM. We in the ETTA are already working closely with AMTCE to support the further development of these bespoke courses and initiatives, and we endeavour to lead best practice, nationally and internationally, into the future.

The ETTA welcomes professional conversations with any and all stakeholders to progress STEM and foster positive STEM experiences for as many students in our schools.