Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that response. I have another suggestion which applies to the entirety of our education system and that concerns the whole idea of continuous assessment. Perhaps we can encourage students into these subjects by seeking to introduce a continuous assessment model. The subjects are quite difficult and are perhaps a bit more intimidating than other subjects. The idea of taking on chemistry or physics is not always a student's first choice. We need to be more creative in general when it comes to our education system and if there is such a big shortage in these STEM subject areas we should look at continuous assessment as part of the grading process in those subjects. This might encourage more students to take on those subjects.

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