John Gilroy (Labour)

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. He is well known as a reformer, something which is widely recognised. The reform of the junior certificate is timely, important and one which everybody involved in education will welcome.

I note the six key skills, which is an excellent development. Are those set out in the presentation exhaustive? If they are, I suggest the Minister might consider an additional one under the heading of "staying well". We know suicide is the leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in this country. Perhaps we could use the new programme to embed a module into the junior certificate cycle to promote positive mental health. There is a general provision but we should make it more explicit.

Skills such as coping with failure, disappointment and rejection, the importance of self esteem, the ability to recognise it is normal to sometimes feel down and others are needed. Teachers are very important gatekeepers in this area and perhaps they should be retrained or upskilled to recognise potential crises in the lives of young people. I feel strongly that training should be embedded in primary and preschool settings. There is now an opportunity to do something about the problem and I urge the Minister to consider what can be done.

There does not seem to be a huge emphasis on the importance of physical education in the cycle.