Results 2,541-2,560 of 23,957 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Review (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: My question relates to small schools, particularly the value for money report which the Minister has in his hands. How long has he had that report and why has it not been published? Small schools are under severe pressure and particular concerns have been raised about minority ethos schools where minority denominations are under particular pressure. Any change to a small schools policy...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Review (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I do not believe it is good enough that this report has not yet been published. I do not see why the Minister should have been sitting on it for possibly nine months at this stage. Nor do I understand why he cannot outline to the House when it will be published. It has been in his hands. Why has he not published it and why is he not consulting with other political parties and the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Review (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I am not particularly worried about who commissioned the report. I am concerned about what it contains and what the Minister will do about it. Anyone can commission a report, but the Minister is responsible for how he leads the education system and treats our smaller schools. What we have seen from him has been a reduction in schools' capitation and the removal of the minor works grant,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Review (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: As such, many of our primary schools question whether they will be able to continue existing. The Minister's continual delay of the report's publication without a reasonable explanation accentuates everyone's concerns.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 94. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his response to continuing concerns among teachers and parents regarding junior certificate reforms and the need for independent assessment of examination papers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50479/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: My question relates to the issue of junior certificate reform, particularly the need for independent assessment and marking of examinations. Parents and teachers alike have expressed their concerns regarding the changes proposed by the Minister in this area. I understand the initial advice from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to the Minister was that the junior...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: The Minister indicated that the State Examinations Commission will, initially, continue to set the paper and assess the exams in the case of three subjects. Will the Minister give a commitment that we will continue to have a State-certified junior certificate examination and that in future we will also have independent assessment of junior certificate examinations? Let us consider the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: We cannot have a situation whereby the credibility of that benchmark and examination is lost because of the approach the Minister is taking.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: It is important to point out that the initial advice to the Minister from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, following consultation, was that we should keep a State examination and that it should continue to be set by the State and marked and assessed independently. The Minister has gone down a different route. I heard him say at one of the teaching conferences in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Reviews (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: A personal political decision. I recall the Minister describing it as a personal political project. The Minister is outlining that in the first three years the first three subjects will continue to be independently assessed. In no way do we want the junior certificate to be a terminal examination. Much progress has been made to ensure students get to leaving certificate level. However,...

Other Questions: Early Child Care Education Issues (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 96. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the resources he is providing for the implementation of the Aistear framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50228/13]

Other Questions: Early Child Care Education Issues (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: The purpose of my question is to ask the Minister the resources he is providing for the implementation of the Aistear framework. As he is aware, the Aistear framework was published in 2009. It was highly praised, and I joined in praising it. It is a curriculum framework for children from birth to six years and provides information for adults to help them plan for and provide enjoyable and...

Other Questions: Early Child Care Education Issues (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his response. I ask him to differentiate between the curriculum supports his Department is providing in primary schools and the supports it is providing in the preschool setting also because Aistear starts in the preschool setting. It is for children up to six years of age. A serious issue is emerging in the way we are implementing and supporting that curriculum at...

Other Questions: Early Child Care Education Issues (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I have serious concerns about the level of joined-up thinking on education between the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, in terms of preschool services, and the Minister's Department in overseeing children up to the age of six in junior and higher infants. We must see much greater co-ordination in that regard because the Aistear curriculum has to be supported in preschools and it is...

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if plans to include the family farm in means test assessments for third level support have now been discontinued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50225/13]

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: My question is on whether plans to include the family farm in means test assessments for third level support have been discontinued and whether the Minister will comment on that. As the Minister knows, he made very public comments on this in his role as an Opposition education spokesperson and since he came into this Ministry. It is a source of great concern to self-employed people and to...

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: Large savings and funds are relevant to people who are not self-employed as well as to those who are. The Minister could do with a reality check in regard to his assessment of how well the farming community is doing. If he wishes, I can bring him around the farming community in County Donegal or in any other county. They have just come out of the most difficult winter and spring in recent...

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: It is being presented as such by the Minister.

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: That is where this has come from.

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (26 Nov 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: Absolutely.