Seanad debates

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Education Matters: Statements

 

4:00 pm

Photo of Batt O'KeeffeBatt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and, in particular, to outline the key role for education in driving Ireland's economic recovery. Our current economic challenges drive home the critical importance of investing in the protection of our future competitive advantage. As well as dealing with the current financial crisis, we must also plan for the future. We must ensure Ireland is in the best possible position to benefit from the next wave of world economic growth. In Building Ireland's Smart Economy: A Framework For Sustainable Economic Renewal, the Government has clearly set out the strategic direction and priorities for establishing Ireland as the innovation island.

One of the key objectives we want to achieve is a thriving sector of high value, research intensive, innovative Irish and multinational companies providing well paid, quality jobs for our people. Ireland has been successful in attracting such companies to locate here. We want to build on previous success and we want more Irish-owned companies to be established and see them thriving along with the multinationals.

Future competitive strength will rely on our ability to foster a culture of ideas and innovation and on our capacity to translate these into high value jobs. Education at all levels obviously plays a key role in fostering and developing the skills, such as creative and critical thinking and entrepreneurship, that people need to contribute to society and the economy and that will enable people to adapt and innovate.

We have a younger and better educated workforce than many other countries. However, we must continue to improve the standards of education available throughout the system. We need to ensure the education system continues to adapt and respond to the needs of society and the economy. We also need to ensure it responds to the needs of a wide range of individual learners. This means increasing the flexibility and diversity of provision as well as ensuring quality across the system. That is why, as well as striving for improved educational outcomes generally, we are prioritising key initiatives such as reform of the mathematics curriculum at second level with the roll-out of project maths.

One of my key priorities for the future is to ensure a focus on the quality of teaching in our classrooms. The educational outcome for the student is crucially dependent on the quality of learning within the school. In 2009, the inspectorate of my Department will continue to support schools and promote improvement through the whole school evaluation and inspection programme in primary and post-primary schools. Through its school evaluation work in the period ahead, my Department will maintain a focus on promoting best practice in school development planning and self-evaluation. This continues to be an important objective for our system and I am encouraged by the many examples of leadership in this area that are highlighted in most evaluation reports.

In a very small number of schools where serious weaknesses arise, my Department will undertake appropriate follow-through activity. My Department's administrative sections are working closely with the inspectorate to ensure schools engage with recommendations for change and are enabled to improve their leadership and the quality of education provided for students.

Numerous influential reports have highlighted that teacher quality is the single most important factor — far and above anything else — in improving outcomes in the classroom. It is vital therefore that we not only continue to attract the right people into teaching but that we provide them with the continuum of professional development opportunities they need to be effective educators. The teaching profession in Ireland is highly regarded and continues to attract from the top quartile of students, which is a key ingredient to the provision of quality education.

The Teaching Council has been given a key statutory role in ensuring the teaching profession operates to a high standard. The council is aware of the priority the Department and I attach to improvements in areas such as pre-service and induction in particular. The Department has a responsibility to ensure teachers have access to appropriate support and training. Teachers also have a responsibility to update their own knowledge and skills, and to maintain a good standard of instruction throughout their careers.

Curriculum is another important contributor to quality outcomes. There have been significant developments in recent years across the primary and post-primary sectors. As I mentioned earlier, we are prioritising the reform of the mathematics curriculum at post-primary level. Project maths is designed to encourage a greater take-up at higher level and to provide a solid foundation which prepares students for careers in the science, technology, engineering, business or humanities options. The 24 project schools started the cycle in September 2008 and will complete the final phase in 2010-11. The mainstream phasing will begin in September 2010, prefaced by a programme of professional training for teachers starting the previous year.

Project maths will be supported by intensive investment in professional development for teachers. A mathematics support team has been appointed and is supporting the project schools, as well as preparing for mainstream in-service development which will commence in September 2009. As well as the mathematics support team, teacher training in a number of areas will be prioritised in 2009, including special education related programmes, training for language support teachers and training for information and communications technology co-ordinators.

As regards school staffing and funding, my immediate priority is to sustain the existing level of service to the greatest possible extent. In terms of current expenditure for the school system, this comes down to what we can reasonably afford to spend on teachers and other support staff along with what we can provide for day-to-day running costs. This will not be easy, given that the demographics mean we will see further increases in the number of pupils in the form of continued growth at primary level. Furthermore, the pressure evident at primary level in recent years will be reflected increasingly in the numbers attending at second level as well. At primary level we have made substantial investment in providing extra teachers and special needs assistants for those with special needs. We recognise, however, that as pupils transfer to second level schools, many will continue to need support, thus creating pressure for additional teaching and SNA resources.

The Government is committed to providing targeted support for special needs and has allocated additional funding of €20 million for 2009 to continue to enhance front-line services for these children. A sum of €10 million is being provided for my Department and this will complement the additional level of supports to be delivered through the allocation of the other €10 million to the health services. This additional allocation has enabled me to provide a 33% increase for the Department's psychological service — a demand that has been ongoing from the teaching unions and the profession generally. This will provide for approximately 50 more psychologists working directly with children in our schools. This means that every school in the country will be covered by the service by the end of this year. The psychologists will also support school staff in catering for children with special needs in the school setting. Funding will also be provided for the National Council for Special Education to enhance the council's capacity to co-ordinate the provision of services at local level for children, parents and schools.

A further key plank of policy has been to target resources at educational disadvantage. We have also sought to address the language needs of newcomer children. My priority and that of my Department will be to do the best we can to balance these competing needs within the overall limits on the number of teachers and other support staff that can be provided within the resources available. We must ensure we target available resources effectively and efficiently.

While I have made improvements to the capitation grants this year, I had to cut other grants. Faced with the overall funding limits and the pressures of providing extra money in 2009 for pay and pensions, I had to make difficult decisions. I ultimately want to work to a position where the main funding instrument for schools is the capitation payment, rather than multiple grants requiring separate budgeting and accounting by the Department or schools themselves. This will allow schools to allocate funding according to their own plans and priorities.

The higher education sector has undergone massive growth and change and this has been matched by substantial increases in public investment. Funding for the sector increased to approximately €2 billion in 2008. This is an increase of 33% in the past four years and an increase of 135% since 1997. Higher education delivers important national goals in teaching and learning, research, promoting social inclusion and through provision of opportunities for life-long learning. The sector is a key element in the objectives set out in the Government's economic renewal framework.

I recently established a group to develop a national strategy for higher education. The strategy will aim to provide a vision and strategic direction for the future development of the higher education sector in contributing to Ireland's economic and social development in the 21st century. The process will provide an opportunity to review the environment for higher education and to look at the challenges and changes that are impacting on the sector as we seek to increase participation levels and access, foster innovation and develop the workforce skills needed to help Ireland remain competitive in the global knowledge economy.

Internationally, higher education institutions are grappling with the challenges of enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and responding to the needs of learners for more flexible provision. The strategy process will also examine how higher education is evolving in other countries and will seek to ensure that the Irish system ranks effectively against relevant international comparators. An examination of the overall operational, governance and resourcing framework will be important elements of the strategy review. The Government is investing unprecedented levels of public funding in higher education and in identifying future development objectives for the sector. It is also appropriate to establish the effectiveness of the use of current resources.

We also need to look critically at roles and relationships within the higher education system itself. If Ireland's full innovation potential is to be realised, we need to ensure that our higher education institutions are appropriately configured to deliver maximum impact on investment. We need to create the policies and institutional arrangements that drive Ireland up the economic value chain so that we can create quality, well-paid jobs for current and future generations.

I expect that the process of developing the strategy will be completed before the end of this year. Opportunities will be provided for all the various interest groups to express their views as part of that process.

I am also working with my ministerial colleagues on maximising upskilling and reskilling opportunities in the further and higher education sectors. Funding has already been provided through the strategic innovation fund, SIF, for upskilling projects in a number of higher education institutions. Under the SIF, priority will be given to flexible learning initiatives targeted at upskilling people in the workforce. Other initiatives are being developed to provide new upskilling opportunities on a full-time and part-time basis for people in vulnerable areas of employment or people who have become unemployed. A swift response to emerging upskilling needs is required from the education and training sectors. The current level of engagement of providers in formulating responses to that immediate challenge is very welcome. In addition, continued investment in research and development has specific, urgent importance in supporting innovation, attracting inward investment and allowing our indigenous enterprise to grow and flourish.

The programme for research in third level institutions, PRTLI, is a crucial element of our innovation strategy. The PRTLI was the first strategic investment programme in research in higher education and has laid the foundations for what we now call "fourth level" education which will underpin Ireland's ability to sustain higher quality employment opportunities in the future.

The investments made under PRTLI have transformed our higher education campuses, creating the research capacity and capability from which the future innovation capacity of the economy can grow. Some 30 new state-of-the-art research centres have been established in various disciplines. PRTLI has provided research space equivalent to four Croke Parks and has funded in excess of 1,600 postgraduate students. Through its role in both skills development and the generation of new knowledge, it has been one of the key building blocks to our recent economic success and, more importantly, to our future prosperity. Internationally, we are now seen as a credible location for world-class research.

As well as the transformation in physical infrastructure, PRTLI has also provided us with highly skilled graduates who make wider contributions to the economy and society. However, research and innovation are limited in their contribution unless we also turn a significant number of these ideas into commercialised products and services. The creation of a strong research, innovation and commercialisation ecosystem will be a crucial driver of future economic growth.

The strategy for science technology and innovation is a critical element of the roadmap for laying the foundations for economic renewal and expansion. The recently announced fifth cycle of PRTLI is an essential plank for delivering on the objectives of that strategy. The call for proposals, which has now issued under cycle 5 of the PRTLI, is an important component of our future strategy for the economy. The aim under cycle 5 will be to deliver concentrated investments that consolidate and build on the research strengths that have been developed under previous PRTLI cycles. The aim is to create national strength in key priority areas that will support Ireland's economy objectives and provide a platform for our development and for "innovation Ireland".

As the Taoiseach outlined last week, the Government is maintaining proportionately the largest capital investment programme in Europe. A significant element of this investment is in educational infrastructure, including the schools building programme. Over €640 million was spent on school building projects in 2008. I am very pleased the Government has increased my capital allocation for schools for 2009 by €75 million to €656 million, the largest allocation ever in the history of the programme.

This will provide for a significant construction programme and will see major projects under way across the country. This is in addition to the smaller capital projects that will be offered for public tender under the devolved grant schemes. As well as this, I will be making provision for a summer works scheme for 2009 thereby responding to the calls of schools throughout the country which outlined to me the outstanding value that can be gained from these small works and the opportunity for local employment.

This investment will obviously impact positively on job opportunities in the construction sector. Some economic commentators work to the principle that every €255,000 of investment in construction activity is likely to generate a single job. Applying this theory to my overall capital allocation indicates that it will support significant employment in the construction sector this year. As well as providing employment in the construction sector, I anticipate that greater competitiveness within the sector will provide much better value for money, enabling us to get maximum benefit from this increased investment.

While there has been a reduction of €56 million, mainly to the higher education capital allocation, the remaining budget of more than €227 million is still significant and given the value to be obtained from tendering for building projects at the moment, I am confident we will still achieve a substantial programme of works in our universities and institutes of technology this year. Aside from the immediate economic benefits of supporting construction sector activity, these investments in quality education facilities are an essential foundation for our development ambitions as an advanced knowledge society.

The overall priority for me as a member of Government, is to secure Ireland's future at a time of a global economic downturn. The work of my Department cannot be looked at in isolation from the economic realities facing this country. The Government has set out a clear strategy for dealing with the current economic difficulties and for ensuring Ireland is well positioned to benefit from a global economic upturn. Education is and must be central to this strategy. Future jobs, investment and the strength of the Irish economy now depend on the quality of our educated workforce and on our capacity for research and innovation. I will be working with the education partners to ensure we deliver the best possible outcomes for all our learners and that the education system at all levels continues to adapt to meet the needs of society and the economy.

We are faced with many challenges in this task. The current economic situation sets a difficult framework for both the public and private sectors. The challenge for all of us working in education is to find innovative ways to deliver better outcomes with the resources available to us. We must think outside the box and strive to create new opportunities. In doing so, we will be well positioned to enable our country to take full advantage when the economic situation improves.

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