Fiach MacConghail (Independent)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an t-Aire chuig an Seanad agus gabhaim comhghairdeas arís dó as ucht an obair ar fad atá déanta aige san am gairid mar Aire. I applaud the Minister's enthusiasm and his advocacy for change in the junior certificate in particular. I love the quote that unless the examination changes, nothing else will. I believe this is his first contribution in these Houses on the reform of the junior cycle, and there is a feeling that he is open to consultation and other suggestions, which I welcome. I also applaud Dr. Anne Looney and Professor Tom Collins for their innovation.

What intention does the Minister have to place the arts at the heart of learning? Unlike Senator O'Donnell, I am not necessarily looking for compulsory courses, but I do think this is a time for innovation and creativity. This is a great opportunity to innovate and yet celebrate the Irish imagination and our potential for creativity in education. I can provide examples of how using the arts can keep people in disadvantaged areas in school, such as El Sistema music project in Venezuela and the project of the Irish Chamber Orchestra in Limerick.

The six key skills that will be embedded in subjects as defined in the NCCA document of October 2011 include managing myself, staying well, communications, being creative, working with others and managing information and thinking. The recently published document from the UK's Cultural Learning Alliance, which consists of a number of organisations that came together to look at this and which was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, outlines very strongly the benefits of structured arts learning at second level. It made a number of key findings. First, learning through arts and culture improves attainment in all subjects. Taking part in drama and library activities improves attainment in literacy. Taking part in structured music activities improves attainment in maths, early language acquisition and early literacy. We do not want to demarcate all the subjects all of a sudden. Arts can support numeracy, literacy and reading. Schools that integrate arts across the curriculum in America have shown consistently higher average reading and mathematics scores, compared with similar schools that do not. Dr. Anne Looney has much information on this and spoke about it in her own capacity.

Second, participation in structured arts activities increases cognitive abilities. Third, students from low income families who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree. Arts activity can keep a person in school, particularly in a disadvantaged area. Fourth, employability of students who study arts subjects is higher and they are more likely to stay in employment. What I want to stress here is that the marketplace should not determine our curriculum. Just because Google or Intel suggest to us that there should be a concentration on mathematics to the detriment of other subjects-----