Ms Helen McMahon:

I am a senior strategic policy adviser in Enterprise Ireland, EI, leading on client skills. EI welcomes the opportunity to present to the members of the committee on the critical topic of the future of STEM in Irish education and to outline the key priorities identified by us as being essential to supporting enterprise development and individual learners' career journey.

EI’s purpose is helping Irish companies to start, grow, innovate and win export sales. We work with internationally focused Irish enterprises across a broad range of sectors of the economy, supporting them to strengthen their competitiveness and productivity, increase innovation and realise their growth potential, thereby contributing to employment and economic growth across all regions. We also work with the network of 31 local enterprise offices, LEOs, through our centre of excellence, to support the growth of microenterprises across the country.

Enterprise Ireland's strategy for 2022 to 2024 is titled Leading in a Changing World. Our mission is to accelerate the development of world-class Irish companies to achieve leading positions in global markets. Central to this strategy is the commitment to support our client companies to address their skills and talent challenges. From recent client surveys undertaken by EI and from our daily interactions with client companies, we are hearing that the most significant identified obstacle to growth is the lack of availability of human capital and a skilled workforce. This is particularly evident in the STEM skill sets. Encouraging a responsive and agile education system is central to addressing the future skills needs of Irish-owned companies and must be central to discussions on the future of STEM in Irish education.

Enterprise Ireland has identified a number of priorities as essential areas for exploration. Direct engagement between education providers and Irish-owned enterprises is critical to addressing STEM skills needs effectively. This should be supported by clear pathways for engagement, with dedicated enterprise liaison teams in the education institutions. It is critical that decisions on the future of STEM education are informed by evidence-based skills data that address regional and national skills gaps. This will facilitate the development of targeted partnerships and skills interventions between industry, key stakeholders and the education system.

Funding models and programme design structures must be flexible in order to respond effectively to future skills needs, demographic challenges and student demand. Key to achieving this agile structure is the development of microcredentials and a recognition of prior learning, RPL process. This will support ongoing workforce development, empower learners to take ownership of their career development and support companies to develop talent attraction and retention strategies.

Diverse and inclusive businesses are more innovative, creative and dynamic. Supporting diversity and inclusion is a key priority and creating further gender diversity in the student body should be a key focus. In addition, there must be a continued focus on access to and affordability of education for less privileged groups by virtue of socioeconomic background, ability, ethnicity or other factors.

As we move forward, multidisciplinary teams that can work together cross-functionally will become increasingly important in the workforce. Key to the successful growth of workforce development is embedding in-demand technical and transversal skills, such as problem-solving, design thinking and teamwork, which will help to future-proof the supply of STEM skills in the economy.

Lifelong career guidance is critical to supporting learners through their career journey and encouraging upskilling and pathways of progression. This will support the building of awareness of progression routes into STEM, such as the critical role of apprenticeships and the opportunities for research talent.

STEM education staff at all levels must be provided with continuing professional development, CPD, opportunities, particularly as skills, technology and education practices evolve. There must be a unified tertiary education system. Lifelong learning is essential to sustain and develop a skilled workforce that can adapt and respond to changing skills needs. To achieve this, there must be clear and integrated pathways between further and higher education to support pathways of progression. In addition, it is imperative that all education providers are equipped with adequate infrastructure and technology that facilitates the delivery of high-quality STEM education.

Horizon scanning and forecasting future STEM skills needs are critical to build a resilient workforce and respond to changing market needs. It is essential that Government policy and actions relating to STEM education, such as the digital strategy for schools and the new national strategy for literacy, numeracy and digital literacy, are progressed and aligned to avoid duplication of actions and to support effective implementation. I thank committee members for the opportunity to speak to them. I welcome any questions they may have.