Results 12,541-12,560 of 17,012 for speaker:Paul Kehoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools: Discussion (5 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: To follow up on the point made by Deputy Ó Laoghaire about gaming, this is an issue that comes up quite often. Members who have children, in particular those who have boys, will be very aware of Fortnite. I would be interested in hearing the views of Dr. Milosevic on Fortnite. I ask the witnesses to sum up and I first call on Dr. Keating.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools: Discussion (5 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I am going to have to ask Dr. Milosevic to conclude. We are running over the two-hour time slot allotted for the meeting. I know the witnesses will not mind if members have further questions or clarifications that they wish to get from them. Before the meeting concludes, I ask members to stand for 30 or 40 seconds to show that this committee stands against bullying and bullies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools: Discussion (5 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I thank the members for that. I say genuinely that I leave this meeting feeling enlightened by the statements of the witnesses. Their answers to all the questions were very forthright. I thank Dr. Mazzone, Dr. Keating and Dr. Milosevic for their contributions today. I have no doubt that the committee will invite them back. I have no doubt that they will appear before the committee again...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: 419. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of progress on a building project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34527/20]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: 420. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a building project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34549/20]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: 422. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a building project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34577/20]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Business of Joint Committee (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: The draft minutes of the meeting of 5 November have been circulated. Are they agreed? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: On behalf of the committee, I welcome Dr. Harold Hislop, chief inspector at the Department of Education; Mr. Dalton Tattan, assistant secretary general at the Department of Education; and Ms Andrea Feeney, CEO-designate of the State Examinations Commission and former director of the calculated grades executive office at the Department of Education. I will shortly ask Mr. Tattan to brief...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I thank Mr. Tattan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: If the witnesses do not have time to answer in full, they can send a written reply to the Senator.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I ask Dr. Hislop to conclude. Next is Senator Pauline O'Reilly and she will be followed by Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I ask Mr. Tattan to respond later, because I want to move on. I call Deputy Nolan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I am conscious that I will not be able to go to the Chief Whip and tell him that Dr. Hislop held us up in the committee. It can be a written note. I call Deputy Jim O'Callaghan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: When one reflects back, the past six months have been very challenging for the Department of Education. If the officials here were to make any changes or do anything differently, and hindsight is a great thing as they say, what are the top two or three things they would do differently today, as they reflect back on what has happened over recent months?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Following on from that, what checks and balances were carried out on the company that did the coding and what options does the Department of Education have now? Are we looking at a legal case? I am aware that we are conducting a review and everything like that. I ask for a very brief answer because I have another question about the upcoming leaving certificate exams starting next week.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Regarding the 2,800 candidates who will be doing their leaving certificate exams in 600 centres across the country, I presume there will be a number of students in the same classroom doing the exams. What contingency plans are in place if one of those students is diagnosed with Covid? I was a member of the Government when the decision was made to cancel the leaving certificate and in my...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Of the 2,800 candidates, are more students from private schools participating in the upcoming leaving certificate or is there a mix across the board?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Returning to the calculated grades, the Institute of Education holds weekly exams for all subjects for the leaving certificate. Could they not have been taken as an example for predictive grades announced in the past number of months? They would have been very accurate because they hold regular exams in all subjects. I am a great believer in continuous assessment and believe we must go...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: That is okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Leaving Certificate Calculated Grades 2020 and Preparations for Leaving Certificate 2021: Department of Education (10 Nov 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Dr. Hislop spoke about the well-being of students. The leaving certificate happens every year and there is significant pressure on students. Have we learned lessons this year? This year, we have really concentrated on the candidate doing the leaving certificate. Are there lessons for the future regarding the type of well-being supports we can put in place for students?