James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the presence of teaching and union representatives in the Gallery. I commend my colleague, Deputy Thomas Byrne, on tabling the motion. It is currently an important area in education. As party science spokesperson, I will focus my comments on STEM. The gap in STEM subjects and the number of STEM teachers at second level has been well documented in any number of reports dating back to the 1990s, the most recent one being a report from November 2016. The Minister has also acknowledged it in recent times.

I attended the conference of the Irish Science Teachers Association in Maynooth approximately six months ago where I again heard a call for greater emphasis on STEM subjects, a greater input into STEM teaching and a greater number of STEM graduates to enter the system. I also met representatives of the Institute of Physics who had similar concerns. The issue is manifesting in a scenario where many science subjects are being taught by teachers whose primary degree may not have been in that particular science subject. For instance, a lot of biology teachers may be teaching physics or chemistry, which some refer to as the physical sciences. This is not ideal for a number of reasons. We also see gender imbalance. We see less of the physical sciences being taught in some girls-only schools. In some schools, these subjects are not even being offered. A lot of this links back to the difficulty we have in retaining or attracting STEM graduates into the profession at present and, despite numerous reports, the lack of action from Government on it.

The Minister has alluded to some schemes that may be possible. There was talk over Christmas about taking people from industry. I do not have a difficulty with that. However, an accommodation will have to be reached with the unions on how someone could enter the profession mid-stream. It does seem to make sense, however, that someone working in industry or in a professional capacity outside the classroom could be retrained. I might bring something to bear in that manner. Continuing professional development for teachers in the subject area is another possibility to enable people's skills in their subject choice to remain honed.

Many Irish graduates and teachers are now travelling abroad. They may be working as interpreters in European Union positions etc. As a result of the course change, a difficulty is expected to arise soon in the teaching of home economics.

There may be an opportunity to collaborate in a pilot initiative involving some of the teachers in institutes of technology who have Teaching Council numbers and would be qualified to teach in secondary schools. I believe that video-link technology is making that available in some schools already. These ideas need to be explored urgently to address the gap.

I yield to my colleague, Deputy Aindrias Moynihan.

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