Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome back to the House, having spent several years here previously. I have had a most interesting week. I am following two Dundalk speakers. I found myself in the Dundalk Institute of Technology two days ago. One thing that surprised me about the group I met and the class I lectured to was that they were studying entrepreneurship. It was not a full course but a module that is part of every course, which everyone does when they study business in Dundalk Institute of Technology. I found it fascinating to meet those involved because they were Chinese or African and strangers in Dundalk. Clearly, entrepreneurship is something that is very important. It is not only a question of learning skills that one can use but of learning how to learn. This seemed to be the most important thing coming across from the course.

Another visit took place in this building the following day at the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, of which I am a member. We had a visit from the Open Ireland. The main speaker was Sean O'Sullivan, a fascinating man I had not met before. He set up a business in Cork and was one of the inventors of the term "cloud computing" some years ago. He was one of the "Dragons' Den" people. His main point was that the jobs that will exist in ten years' time do not exist now. Therefore, the question is how we can train people for that. He provided a good example. One of his colleagues at the meeting explained that if a person decides to be a doctor, he does not study to be a surgeon or dermatologist at the initial stage. He studies for six years to be a doctor and then he decides what area in which to specialise. In other words, in the case of information and communications technology, a person needs to get a broad understanding, mostly about how to learn, and then decide what he will study afterwards. It is fascinating, because we have a great deal to learn about children's education as well.

The Springboard initiative was mentioned earlier. I served on the board of one of the committees of Springboard for two years. The initiative is clearly doing a great deal. Reference was made to the fact that 10,000 people have gone through Springboard courses. These are courses run for people who have already received education but whose education is not suitable for jobs now. Many of them are architects and engineers but they need to study something else now. A further 5,000 will go though the programme this year.

I made another visit almost two years ago to Tralee. I met Jerry Kenneally, who sold his business and then built up a new business and decided he wanted to live in Ireland. He decided entrepreneurship was the important element. He put his money into teaching transition year youngsters of 15 and 16 years of age about entrepreneurship. For the programme to work, those involved had to train teachers to teach entrepreneurship. They get 600 pupils from throughout Kerry, who come to Tralee for one session at the beginning of the school term. I was sitting with a young woman at the session who explained that the previous year she had done the course in entrepreneurship. One of the challenges for the students is to see a problem and then solve it. She had found a problem and then solved it. She now employs one person, her father, a great achievement for a 15 year old. She is now in fifth year and she exports to 22 countries and sells a product for ¤17.99 on her Internet site. At 15 years of age, this girl saw a challenge as something she could take on. I discovered young people who were learning many other things as well.

It is interesting that, as Sean O'Sullivan said, many of the jobs that will exist in five years' time do not exist at the moment. How do we give citizens the skills they need to succeed in their personal and professional lives? How do we prepare them for the future given that, according to a recent estimate, 65% of children entering a primary school this year will end up working in careers that have not been invented yet?

We need to learn cognitive and non-cognitive skills.

In addition to the specialised technical skills, it is crucial that we teach children how to learn in order that they can easily pick up new skills. I served a five year term as chairman of the applied leaving certificate programme and my experience prompts me to ask some broad questions about education. Do all students learn in the same way? Should we ignore international research on multiple forms of intelligence? Do students learn best in isolation? Is one main method of written assessment dependable? There must be better ways of teaching. Could a strong policy be developed to reflect the importance of lifelong learning? Could we number our school years from birth rather than primary school to underline the importance of preschool years in a child's development? The education cycle begins at birth. It is interesting to see how my two recent grandchildren learn while they are a few months old. One of the most interesting messages on education is advocated by the World Bank which argues that education should focus on basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing and communication until children are 17 or 18 years old and that vocational training should wait. We are well aware of the large number of children in this country who left school to enter trades and lacked the skills to adapt when the economy changed. Focusing on basic skills will allow for a flexible workforce. Poland was able to use such an asset in the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis. A number of experts point to Poland's flexible workforce as the reason for its continued economic growth. Ireland can learn a lesson from this example.

I am delighted that the Minister of State spoke about the youth guarantee. The Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has pointed out that we do not have to invent something new because New Zealand, Austria and Sweden have already introduced a youth guarantee. Therefore, we know how to do it.

One of the elements I would like to stitch into this discussion is the importance of entrepreneurship in order that people would be expected to do it themselves rather than always expecting somebody else to do it for them. I was delighted to hear Senator D'Arcy speak about the lack of use of facilities, particularly in institutes of technology, which lie vacant all summer and over many weekends. There must be better ways of doing this. I know the Minister of State's heart is in the right place. Let us make sure we support him any way we can.