Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I support the Private Members' motion. As a person who went to school when I was three and left the teaching environment at 27 when elected to Parliament, I have, perhaps, spent more time in school than I should have. However I did some courses over the summer and would do more if I had the time because nobody can get enough education. Education gives phenomenal empowerment. To be able to continue to broaden one's horizons at any age is one of the most important things we can facilitate people to do.

A great deal is taking place. Last year my mother, who has little experience of computers, took the opportunity to learn about them and talks about doing her European computer driving licence, ECDL, course. It is good for people of all generations to have opportunities. Much of it is happening in the community where I live. There is access to computer training. Whether it is used for a job, social interaction or to be able to relate to one's children or grandchildren, all reasons for taking such training have validity.

Preschool is important. Although there is a child care debate on the change of schemes, grants and subventions, there is no debate on content in child care. I am not talking about the mathematical syllabus but asking if there is a play value that will yield an educational value by teaching how to work together and engage with each other from the youngest age. I will speak about mother and child bonding. Lifelong learning must start at the very beginning, as it is said in "The Sound of Music". When I was Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, I took on the issue of music therapy. Another issue was mother and child bonding. When children are not educationally focused, are not able to engage educationally or drop out of the education system, it can sometimes be traced back to the fact that the mother and child did not bond.

I ask the Minister of State to examine the committee's report on music therapy which states:

The structured, non-verbal nature of many musical activities or improvisations can be very reassuring for families who have been engaged in verbal conflicts, and the delicate issues of control can be addressed. Above all, relationships that have become mainly negative can again be seen in a more positive light as families rediscover the ability to have fun together through music making.

That might sound airy fairy when taken out of the context of the report. It also states: "Music therapy seems to enhance the bond between mother and child, enable mothers to gain new insights about their relationships with their children and in many cases improve the quality of life for the child and the mother". If children get the best possible start, their ability to engage in formal education, whether at preschool or primary level, enhances their potential. Then the need to intervene when they are aged eight, nine or ten might arise less frequently. From the Department's perspective, I am talking about budgets. If we invest early, we might not have to invest later. That is a worthwhile aspiration.

The White Paper on Early Education, Ready to Learn, sets out a comprehensive strategy for the development of early childhood education for children up to six years of age and also focuses on those with special needs or disability. I encourage the Minister of State to think of lifelong learning as starting there and to work with other Ministers of State and the Minister for Education and Science to ensure this is prioritised.

There has been great investment in the capital building programme, although it was criticised earlier in this debate. In my area some places aspired to new school buildings for decades, on which there has been a substantial move and to which I alluded in a debate on education earlier in this session.

On the Order of Business I mentioned the ESRI's report, Gearing Up for the Exam: The Experience of Junior Certificate Students, which was published today. The domination of the State examination system and whether classes should be streamed are important issues. I was in a secondary school where we were not streamed. Mixed abilities shared classes and I found it useful.

The debate on vocational versus academic training is large. We all know some people are vocationally organised and some are educationally organised. The two should not be mutually exclusive. We have been training people in reading, writing and arithmetic to get them through exams, and if that becomes the exclusive goal too early, it will fail many students. It merits a debate.

State exams should not be abolished or replaced entirely with continual assessment. However, if the fun has gone out of learning, we must find a way to bring it back. As a teacher I tried to ensure I made each subject as intelligible as possible to the students. Some teachers do that, some will not. Some are good at it, others are not. I do not know of a simple solution but we should ensure every option is not closed down by the choices students make at the age of 12 or 13.

Education should have a broad background. One can get a job from the arts. I did. I got a bachelors and masters degrees and a teaching qualification. There is a list of letters after my name the length of my arm. However it also broadened my horizons and my ability to deal with matters. It enabled me to stand in this Chamber and address a crowd. That was not in the job description when I studied music but as a result of having to perform in front of people, I have acquired other skills. People who are not involved in the arts do not see that the arts have a potential role beyond somebody being able to sing a song or write a piece of music.

Donegal is keenly aware of the need for lifelong learning. Many of its children left school early to go into the textile industry which offered immediate jobs with good wages. However, it collapsed and many people lost their jobs. According to the last study of the subject, Donegal did not do well from the point of view of the people's educational qualifications. I have spoken about this to many school principals. They are a little concerned about the construction industry attracting male students from school too early. We must keep our attention on that matter.

Many people who have had to leave school early are anxious to get back into education. I congratulate the Government on a number of initiatives and I congratulate communities on seeking to establish courses in their areas. I launched a course recently in Clonmany, which is an outreach centre of the Letterkenny Institute of Technology. A great deal is taking place but we cannot afford to take our eye off the ball. It is important to realise the importance of education and to remove the impediments facing people accessing it.

It is not fair of Sinn Féin and the DUP to claim in their manifestos that they oppose fees and then, when in government, impose fees which have prevented Donegal students from having the same free access to Northern colleges as they had in the past. They tried to do the same with the higher and further education colleges but that was shot down on the basis of segregation, whereby they intended to charge students from this jurisdiction but not those from Northern Ireland. The difficulty appears to be that the Northern fees apply to all students and, therefore, it cannot be called segregation. However, if one states in a manifesto that there will be no fees and one subsequently introduces them, one is preventing access to education.

It was interesting to hear Senator Doherty advocate on behalf of students in the Republic with regard to when their grants should be paid. I would be happy if my student constituents in Donegal were still able to do as I did — go to the University of Ulster or other colleges without having to pay fees. If the Minister of State wishes to put pen to paper about this matter for the Northern Executive, I would be pleased to offer him support.