Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills
European Year of Skills 2023: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. William Beausang:
Yes. There is close collaboration between us and the Department of Education. That has culminated in a national framework for lifelong guidance, which is intended to adopt a cradle-to-grave approach to lifelong learning. That was a piece of work originally recommended for the Department of Education before we were established, but we worked with it, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Social Protection to agree a framework. I think there is an event planned in the next couple of weeks. It has already been launched by the Government, but this event is to launch it more strongly with guidance practitioners and other stakeholders. It is hard to find an issue more important than guidance as we look at our skills system and education system. Mr. Brownlee referred to the need for balance. The question we always have to keep asking ourselves is whether people have the right information when they are making their choices. Going back to the other question, we absolutely respect individual choices, but if those choices are not fully informed we are not meeting our requirements to learners. That is a an area that is very active because it needs to be, in terms of us changing the facts on the ground in looking at our performance for lifelong learning.