Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which relates to a huge amount of issues. When I raised certain matters regarding the institutes of technology in Cork and Tralee on Topical Issues earlier this afternoon, it was the first engagement I had across the floor of the House with the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, since she was appointed to this position. I wish her well. We served together on the Joint Committee on Education and Science in a previous Dáil. I know she has a great grasp of education issues. I wish her well in her role as Minister for Education and Skills.

The matter about which I spoke earlier on Topical Issues, which is one of many education matters I could highlight, is relevant to this Bill as well. Staff members and education partners need to be on the same page in all educational settings, including preschools, primary schools, post-primary schools and third level colleges, when changes are being discussed. While I do not want to repeat the points I made on Topical Issues, I reiterate that there is a need to engage with staff members before any changes are contemplated. The unions are very strong on this. As I said earlier, the Minister should use whatever powers are available to her to ensure they are brought on board. As we proceed with new initiatives that relate to a whole raft of educational issues, we must ensure all the partners and participants in education - the children, the students, the parents and the staff members - are engaged in the process

We have had a very good education service in this country over the years. I appreciate that many people would criticise certain aspects of it. I suppose we have put in store an awful lot in relation to our education services. In the 1950s, a Minister opened 129 vocational education schools in one term as Minister for Education. I think any Minister would like to repeat that. This shows the stock that was put in. At a later stage, the introduction of free education by the Minister's forerunner from Limerick, Donogh O'Malley, allowed a huge number of people from my generation to blossom and prosper.

I would like to deal with a number of issues in the educational sector. A previous speaker mentioned the voluntary work that is being done at board of management level. When issues develop in some cases, boards of management seem to be isolated from the Department of Education and Skills and are seen as atomic units on their own. We need to look at how we can provide greater support in such cases, which are few and far between. I appreciate that the Department provides training and advice, but when conflict arises I think it should be quicker to directly empower the boards of management of all levels that are doing massive work and should not be left on their own.

My own locality in Kanturk recently enjoyed a great honour when two students from a local school, Coláiste Treasa, won the young scientist competition. The project for which the students in question, Ian O'Sullivan and Eimear Murphy, won the competition was entitled "Alcohol consumption: Does the apple fall far from the tree?". A huge volume of work went into this innovative and thought-provoking project, the success of which led to various celebrations in Kanturk and Castlemagner recently and has caused many people to think. Eimear and Ian have received expressions of interest about the project and what was entailed in it from right across the spectrum. There is a huge volume of interest in it. The title of winner of the young scientist exhibition, which has been in existence for 51 years, is very coveted at this stage. People who have won it have gone on to excel in various fields. It was great to see it coming to Duhallow, to Kanturk and to north Cork. I congratulate the winners and the principal and staff members at their school, Coláiste Treasa in Kanturk. I do not doubt that Eimear and Ian, as well as their teachers and parents, put in a huge pile of effort right over the Christmas period to make sure that project was ready. I know the Minister was there on the night when the presentation was made. I suppose they are the good sides of it and the major sides of it.

I would like to discuss the fundamental issue of how the junior certificate is to be marked. I think we need to uphold the integrity of the junior certificate. Given that the primary and group certificates were abolished in times past, do the proposed changes to the junior certificate mean that we intend to dilute the system all the way and keep people in school forever? I think the Minister needs to take a hands-on approach to this issue. There is a need for meaningful discussion in this regard. While exam reforms can be organised within the sector, the integrity of the junior certificate exam itself must not be in question because it is vitally important as we go forward.

The issue of career guidance is causing major concern. I recently organised a career guidance seminar in Kanturk, County Cork. I brought in experts from the universities, the career guidance sector and the training boards who willingly gave massive advice to parents, children and pupils. We need to make sure a proper career guidance service is provided within the school system. The decision to look at career guidance when cutbacks were being made was a retrograde step. The work of guidance counsellors now entails a massive amount of other stuff. Secondary school students, in particular, need more guidance. There is more pressure on them with cyberbullying and everything else.

The Joint Committee on Transport and Communications conducted a report on the matter some time ago. There are no real safeguards against cyberbullying. It is a new issue coming to the fore. Career guidance in second level schools is probably one of the most important services that a school can make available to children and the Minister should reconsider the issue. If there is to be real reform of the system, career guidance services need to be enhanced. Well-off people will be able to pay for private career guidance whereas the children who are suffering and the parents who are under financial pressure, be it due to high mortgages or low or no incomes, cannot access that service. Figures have been quoted in this regard. Some people in the private sector are doing a considerable amount of work and providing important advice, but we must ensure that the ordinary student going through the system can also get that advice from the State.

Historically, we have always challenged the education system. It used to be for the elite in boarding schools and parents who had money. There was an affluence to education. Vocational education schools were established in the 1950s, followed by free education, breaking the old system quickly. These changes allowed people from all backgrounds to be educated, but any current analysis might highlight an issue with children attending third level.

Between 15% and 20% of people are not engaging with the education sector, be they parents or children. They work in deprived areas of cities and of towns and villages in rural areas and may have had difficult family backgrounds. The Minister meets such people at constituency level, as does every Deputy. We try to advise and encourage them, but we must consider what the next level of education should be.

The Bill's awarding of international status to universities is to be commended, as it allows us to market our expertise. We have excelled in all fields. Many of the best companies in the world are headed up by Irish people, but what is the next level of education? What should we as a nation be doing? There is a bracket of people who are not engaging in education. Is it that they place no worth or belief in the system? Is it because they do not have the confidence to engage? Is it because the system has become so streamlined that, if one is outside the box or presents a challenge, one will not engage? As a society, we should consider this matter, because it is the real challenge facing the sector.

Of course there are issues with special needs and disabilities, but a significant amount of work has been done on that front in the past 15 or 20 years. For example, special needs assistants have been put into classrooms and there has been mainstreaming. When the Minister was on the education committee with me, we did a great deal of work on mainstreaming. The UK and other European countries tried it with a view to determining how far it could be taken. In Ireland, many autism units have been built on to primary schools, for example, the unit attached to St. Joseph's Foundation and located at Liscarroll national school in north Cork. However, more work needs to be done. Every family with a child with special needs wants the best possible service for that child. We should consider how to provide that holistically. I work as closely as I can with St. Joseph's Foundation in Charleville, County Cork. Of all the projects I have seen, it does an incredible job on a voluntary basis, but funding is an issue. I will revert to this point.

SNAs are handled by the Department of Education and Skills and the escorts from bus services are handled by the Department of Health, HSE south or, if the children attending schools in Cork are from the Limerick area, HSE mid-west. Often, people must go through a raft of bureaucracy. There is no one system. Parents are exasperated trying to get the best possible service for their children because of the multiplicity of agencies. The process needs to be streamlined significantly. In the majority of cases, the outcomes of these services can be excellent, but occupational therapies and so on need to be more streamlined.

Funding under sections 38 and 39 presents a major issue for St. Joseph's Foundation. In other bodies' cases, the entire deficit is paid by the HSE. In the voluntary sector, good people set up bodies. Dr. Martin O'Donnell, father to Deputy O'Donnell of Limerick, set up the foundation. He was a visionary to do so. Mr. Eamon McCarthy, Mr. Conor Counihan, its chief executive, and all of its staff have done excellent work. However, because it was set up as a voluntary body and has a different line of funding, it must carry its own deficit. This matter should be examined.

I welcome the Bill, but I would like the Minister to consider my Topical Issue matter regarding the staff of both institutes. We have a proud education service and have done well on that front. It has empowered many people, be it in the 1950s, 1960s or later. We have built significantly on that progress. If one is academic, one can achieve greatly, although there are issues with low-income families being unable to access third level education. In some areas, as many as 20% of people do not engage with the education system at all, attending school for only two or three days per week or missing weeks for a raft of family reasons, but the State is only using sticking plasters and helping individual families. This is a major issue.

It is also time that we found a sensible solution to the question of the junior certificate. We cannot dilute the great achievements of the leaving and junior certificates.

As to the matter of career guidance, cyberbullying and mental health in schools are issues. People who do not have money or resources must be afforded proper guidance.

I am delighted that an amalgamated school in Kanturk, County Cork, has reached the planning permission stage. The process has been under way for many years. I pay particular tribute to Canon Jackie Corkery, who has done amazing work decently, honestly and across the political spectrum in the past six or seven years to bring the project to fruition. Everyone has worked with him and I hope that there will be no further delays. He dealt with the project fairly, openly and above reproach and I salute him for how he brought it together after the deluge of volatility that occurred before him.

I commend the Bill and wish the Minister well in her role.

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