Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Harris for raising this issue. He spoke about certain reports and interventions made by people whom he named within the community. I do not believe there is a view within the Department that all is rosy. As Minister with a particular responsibility for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, education, I can tell the Deputy that the three Ministers within the Department - Deputies Quinn and Cannon and myself - are very much of the view that the pipeline of skills that are so vital for this economy and society must start through a system of policy interventions. I want to tell the Deputy about some of those interventions. On Monday of this week the public consultation phase of the development of a new digital strategy for schools was launched. The potential for using technology in the classroom is huge and we are utterly aware of that potential, but we have to examine what is the actual benefit we expect from using technology in schools, how we measure progress and how we can further embed ICT seamlessly across all curricula.

The forthcoming reform of the junior cycle will allow for the optional introduction of school-developed short courses of 100 hours' duration. This will provide further opportunities for schools to progress the provision of courses in ICT.

To address the intervention made by James Whelton to which the Deputy referred, a short course on programming and coding, and also in digital media and literacy, will be available to schools for their junior cycle programme from September 2014. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, is currently consulting on the content of these short courses. We must remember that it is important that the content is relevant. We are inviting submissions on that up to 20 December of this year.

The focus in schools is on using ICT as a tool in learning. This is supported also by a professional development programme for teachers and by investment in ICT infrastructure. Such infrastructure is vital. By the end of 2014 all second-level schools will be connected to a 100 Mbps broadband service at a cost of €40 million. That will feed very much into this agenda as well.

The NCCA has developed a key skills framework at senior cycle in which each skill is broken down into essential elements and learning outcomes. Several of the elements encourage the effective use of ICT for managing and presenting information.

As only 59 seconds remain in this time slot and what I wish to say is not covered in my reply, I want to tell the Deputy about the STEM education advisory group, which comprises academics, industry partners and experts in the field of education, including, for example, a representative from the NCCA. That advisory group was set up by myself and it is chaired independently. It is an independent review group that will examine all aspects of STEM education in Ireland and industrial needs. It is easy for constituent groups to make statements about how this affects their realm, but until we map out the entirety of STEM education provision in the country there is no point in formulating a national policy. Individual initiatives are taking place that are worthy. NCCA-related initiatives sponsored by the Department of Education and Skills are taking place, but if we are to truly understand the dynamic at play here, it is vital that we ensure we can map the entirety of the activity. That is the reason we brought in people from companies such as Intel who form part of the membership of the STEM education advisory group, and it is through their interventions that we will be able to map out that activity and inform the policy provisions that need to be made thereafter.

We cannot be complacent about this agenda. We are very cognisant of the FIT report and of future skills needs, around which there is no complacency. That is the reason the Department has programmes such as Momentum, which seeks to bridge those gaps. There is a short-term view but, as Minister, I have a tendency towards the long-term view. That is why I had an internal meeting this morning on the area of STEM education provision at primary level. It is at primary level that we have to create the most impact in terms of CPD, the knowledge of teachers and ensuring that all of the stakeholders involved, including industry, are cognisant of the need to ensure there is a throughput and a seamless continuum between primary and post-primary and on to tertiary level. I believe strongly that it is at primary level that we embed a conceptual understanding of STEM education, and that involves ICT provision.

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