Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue. I said when I was appointed to this role that my number one objective and goal was to make sure every young person - irrespective of their background, where they come from or what school they go to - is supported, and that our teachers are resourced and supported to help them achieve their full ability. That is my number one goal and priority. That means making sure children with special educational needs get the resources, supports and access to education they are entitled to - more special schools, additional classes, SNAs, training and support. That means for children from disadvantaged backgrounds that we build on and expand the positive and fantastic work of DEIS programmes and make sure, working with our youth partners, every young person has the supports needed to fulfil their potential. Bringing all of that together, we have to make sure that, irrespective of who the child is and their background, they are equipped to respond to the world we live in today. That is paramount. We need to make sure young people leaving school are equipped with the skills and ability to live in, work in and respond to the world we live in now, which has changed completely. The economy and the jobs we work in have changed. Technology has taken over so much of what we do in a positive way, yet there are challenges as well. It is important that State exams reflect all this and equip and support our young people to go into the world we live in.

Official engagement on senior cycle reform started in 2016. I appreciate the different stages have more recently come to the fore but official engagement started in 2016. It is important we get this right and engage with all stakeholders: principals, teachers, school leaders, boards of management and, above all, students. This year we are building on the work that has been done. We have the level 1 and 2 programme statements, which means that for the first time a senior cycle programme has been designed for students with specific educational needs. We have the new transition year programme statement, transition year programme auditing tools, governance portfolios and micromodules, which means for the first time 60,000 young people can avail of transition year. We want that to be available to every student. There is the vocation education training module as well, and a huge amount of work has been done in terms of consultation on the initial brief.

Business, biology, chemistry, physics, Arabic, Latin and Ancient Greek constitute the first tranche that will come in this September. This will not be a quick turnaround or a quick change; it will not happen overnight. I want to ensure that, as this change happens and we have more additional assessment components and changes that test the various skills young people will need going into the world, it is done at a rate that helps young people and is supportive of our teachers. I know the Deputy and all the profession's objective is to ensure young people get the best education available to them.

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