Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Minister on the announcement he made today. There was much merit in what he announced and, time allowing, I will come back to some aspects of it at the end of my contribution.

I listened to the Minister's speech earlier and the part that stuck out for me was the disadvantaged action plan. He mentioned the concept of bringing more students from disadvantaged areas into universities, supporting them all the way through, and seeing what happens to them afterwards. That is very important and may be the first time the "what happens afterwards" part is being addressed.

I wish to take a moment to address what happens before students from disadvantaged communities go to third level. I know there was an issue raised about the word "disadvantaged" in the HEA Bill and it was removed. I am not exactly sure where I stand on that, but students are not disadvantaged by nature. They are disadvantaged by their circumstances. We should acknowledge that those disadvantages act as an impediment. In saying that we will bring more students from disadvantaged and low-income communities into universities, that process cannot start in sixth year. Imagine the impediments that begin for a child from primary school and continue all the way through.

In secondary school, in order to ensure more students from DEIS schools or disadvantages schools can go to university, we need to look at the emotional supports that are needed. Better access to emotional supports in schools is needed. I worked in the Trinity access programme in our school's outreach department and we had three different pillars that we used to engage with. The first part was giving career guidance information to students. We recognised the fact that in many schools career guidance did not kick in until fifth and sixth year because the career guidance teacher was often taken up with providing emotional support to students. By the time a student got to fifth year, it was the first time they were having discussions about universities and apprenticeships. We need to look at the thread that runs from primary school through to secondary school, where it only kicks in.

I am probably the third politician today to say that I was the first member of my family to go to college. We all like to say that but it is an issue that is relevant for the cohort of students we are trying to get into third level. Having access to information at the kitchen table or in the sitting room about what college a person went to is absolutely essential. One component we used to focus on was mentorship for students, provided by people who were in the workplace having graduated from college. We need to factor in how we bring people, who have worked in various sectors, back into their schools and communities to provide support to students who may be the first in their family to progress to third level.

The third area was developing 21st century teaching and learning practices within schools. The manner of assessment that we call the leaving certificate does not train anybody for college life. In DEIS and disadvantaged schools, and in fact all schools, we must ensure that teachers are trained in new technologies, students have access to laptops, they are trained for a 21st century teaching and learning module. That is absolutely essential.

I am aware some of this is being factored into the leaving certificate. We must look at the other skills to develop leadership and confidence building, giving students not just the classroom rote learning experience but also encouraging them to get out into their communities, to volunteer and engage. Seeing that as part of their assessment is how we bring more students from disadvantaged areas into universities.

Research carried out by Dr. Katriona O'Sullivan, on what happens to students who come from disadvantaged communities through DEIS schools or the higher education access route, HEAR, found that students from low-income communities do moderately better than students who come in through traditional means.

However, where that falls down is access to the workplace afterwards. That, again, comes down to these kinds of darker arts. It is the networks and people who work in these accountancies and tech companies being able to provide internship opportunities or the ability to link in with people who are there. If we are serious about supporting students from disadvantaged communities who get to go on to university in their careers after graduation, we need to figure out how to break down the cultural who-you-know networks that can provide what are almost slipstreams through. If we can combat that, we are onto something.

That leads me to my next point. Last week we discussed the area of apprenticeships. I am very conscious that the world of work of a student who is 18 or 19 and is about to sit the leaving certificate next week will be vastly different in 20 years’ time because of, for example, the increase in automation and AI. I am curious as to how we are future-proofing college and apprenticeship courses. Inevitably, when changes in technology happen and we see increases in automation, it is usually the people from working-class communities who have these jobs and apprenticeships who are the first to be let go, lose their jobs and be replaced. I have seen that in my community in the north inner city around Sheriff Street where containerisation set a community back almost half a century. We see that when we go our local shopping centres. People who work on tills will be now replaced with machines. That will happen consistently. It is being rapidly increased due to the pandemic. How are we future-proofing courses to ensure that our students are ready not only for the current economy, but the one that will exist in 15 to 20 years? We need to be factoring that in now.

I also want to discuss the area of further education and training, FET, routes into university. A couple of months ago I raised the area of student nurses, for example, who do FET courses in nursing and cannot get places in the universities. Have there been any developments in terms of providing slipstreams for those students into university courses?

A cohort of students in the leaving certificate applied, LCA, does not have any traditional routes into universities at present. I would be eager to see a route for students who just simply learn differently in their schools and classrooms that allows them to go onto universities.

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