Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to address the concerns raised by organisation (details supplied) in relation to the 2023 draft specifications in leaving certificate biology, chemistry and physics. [16255/24]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister to address the concerns raised in the report presented to her Department and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, in response to the 2023 draft specification in leaving certificate biology, chemistry and physics.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Senior cycle redevelopment is an ambitious programme of work that aims to ensure students experience senior cycle in a way that reflects who they are and the world they live in now and in which they will live in the future. I acknowledge that with the introduction of curricular change, teachers and school leaders want support in order to give their students the best possible experience. As a former teacher and as Minister for Education, I certainly feel the same.

I welcome the continued interest in and engagement of the organisation referenced by the Deputy, the Irish Science Teachers Association, ISTA, with the ongoing subject development processes for chemistry, physics and biology. I am aware of the report on the draft specifications ISTA submitted as part of the recently concluded public consultation on those drafts, which was shared with my Department. The organisation has been directly involved in all stages of the development process over a number of years through the participation of its nominees, who are science teachers, in the three subject development groups established by the NCCA. The groups draw on a wide range of expertise, including that of subject teachers as well as other subject experts.

I recognise how important having the appropriate level of detail in a specification is for teachers. That is why I clearly requested the NCCA, in developing all new and revised subjects, to ensure that curriculums contain a higher level of detail than has sometimes been the case in the past. The NCCA has published a detailed research paper on the technical form of curriculum specifications that has informed its work. Ahead of the new specifications being introduced, comprehensive teacher professional learning supports will be provided by Oide, the integrated professional support service, during the next school year. The State Examinations Commission, SEC, is also committed to providing sample assessment materials to support the preparation of teachers.

The Deputy will be aware that a majority of leaving certificate subjects already have components beyond written examinations, with many of those other components weighted at, or, in some cases, above, 40%. In introducing additional components to all subjects, I am broadening the range of skills we can assess, recognising different types of learning and reducing the emphasis on terminal written examinations. The weighting will ensure that teaching and learning are not focused on a narrow set of competencies associated with written examinations and that students will be rewarded for developing and demonstrating different skills. For the new science curriculums, these components involve students completing a piece of work as evidence of their ability to conduct scientific research on a particular issue.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. While my question did not directly relate to examination components, they are a specific part of the concerns that have been raised and on which I want to focus. In the course of any new development process, there really should be a moment where people pause and are big enough to ask whether they have got the process right or if there are things that need to be changed. ISTA's document states:

Of the 101 learning outcomes in the "contextual"... strands... a total of 69 learning outcomes (68.3%) are unclear. Due to this lack of clarity, it is impossible for teachers to ensure that their students achieve these learning outcomes - and impossible for students to know if they have achieved them.

The concerns raised are very specific. They include referring to "primary data" when it is not necessary to use that term and referring to "secondary data" when that term is not relevant to the actual question. There is also a lack of clarity around laboratory practical investigations, which are mandatory, and the number of such investigations that will be required to meet the learning outcomes.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I reiterate that the ISTA membership, by way of its nominees, all of whom are science teachers, was part of the subject development groups and, as such, was very much an integral part of the design of the curriculums and the framework. Notwithstanding that, a further step has been taken by the NCCA in terms of the consultation aspect. This is an appropriate measure to ensure everybody, including ISTA, has an opportunity to cast an eye over what is being proposed. Anybody, not just this particular organisation, who wants to lend a view on how things should or could be done differently may do so. Obtaining the wisdom of the collective is the purpose of the public consultation process. It is why the results of the consultation, including the material provided by this particular organisation, is being fed back to the NCCA, which will adjudicate it appropriately. There has been ongoing engagement by the NCCA with all the stakeholders, including teachers, on the subject development process. We will see in due course what the outcomes will be of the deliberations on the public consultation.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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With the greatest of respect, ISTA did more than cast its eye over the draft proposals. It has produced a 212-page document that is incredibly detailed in places. The part I referred to is only to do with the actual physics content. The Minister mentioned the components aspect. Some numbers that caught my attention are that the research investigations will account for 40% of marks in fifth year, with 20 hours to be done in a laboratory and the entire course to be delivered over 180 hours. On the subject of laboratories, it is not just teachers or this particular organisation expressing concerns. Parents have referenced this point as well. We are running a very unclear line in terms of resources and the fair allocation of those resources to schools. This will put the students who are most disadvantaged at a further disadvantage. If the laboratory in a DEIS school or any other school is not of the same standard as the laboratories in other schools in the community or the same area, the pupils in that school will, simply due to finances, not be able to achieve the same outcomes as students in the schools that are better resourced.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I want to be clear regarding the allocation of resources. The Deputy referenced the use of laboratories. That specifically relates to the component of science in practice. It should be noted that what is currently set out regarding the science in practice investigations, some of which can, of course, take place in the laboratory, is not prescriptive in stating that they should solely be restricted to laboratory-based work. That is an important consideration.

The Department has been very clear that we will engage on an ongoing basis with schools to see how best to support them in the implementation of any or all aspects of senior cycle reform. I again point out that this consultation is an integral part of the process, prior to the final publication of the agreed specifications. It is an opportunity for organisations like ISTA to give their considered view. Those views will be taken into consideration by the NCCA in compiling the final specifications and their publication. That was the whole purpose of the public consultation. I have every confidence that it is working, given we have received such a broad-ranging document.