Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and commend him on his commitment to education. This action plan activates the commitments contained in the programme for a partnership Government. I welcome the fact that the action plan contains commitments to the monitoring of actions, with published timelines. Progress will be assessed each year.

Ireland is among the top five countries in Europe in several important spheres of education, including post-primary literacy, third level participation and the taking up of science, technology, engineering and maths, STEM, subjects at third level. I was delighted to attend the launch of a STEM programme recently, which involves a partnership between the University of Limerick, UL, and Johnson and Johnson, which is a major employer in the county. The programme aims to encourage more students to study STEM subjects and particularly to encourage female entrepreneurs to study engineering. Under the programme, students are guaranteed a work placement on graduation. The more we see of such initiatives, the better.

The OECD has found that education not only enables people to perform better in the labour market, but also helps to improve their overall health, promote active citizenship and contain violence. I welcome the inclusion of very important goals in the action plan. The focus is on breaking the cycle of disadvantage and ensuring that every person has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. This also leads to creating sustainable, well-paid jobs and strong economic growth.

The action plan commits to the further rolling out of several initiatives which are already in place in a number of higher level institutes in Ireland. It aims, for example, to increase by one quarter the number of students undertaking a work placement or work project as part of their third-level qualification by 2021. I have served on the governing bodies of both UL and the Limerick Institute of Technology, LIT, and have seen first-hand the experience students attained during work placements, which helped them at college and in the workplace. Such placements are of benefit to both students and employers.

I welcome the emphasis in the plan on increasing the take up of gateway subjects such as physics, chemistry and higher level maths. This year's leaving certificate results show that almost 28%, or more than 15,000 students, opted to take the higher level maths paper and failure rates fell from 5% to 4.6%. The plan also aims to increase the opportunities for learning coding and computer science. In that regard, my local IT started a pilot scheme for primary school students on a Saturday morning which has proved very successful and very beneficial for the students. I welcome the fact that the Minister has included coding and computer science in this plan because these are two of the subjects of the future.

The implementation of a national access programme for higher education is pivotal to this plan. Its objective is to increase by seven points, or the equivalent of 30%, the proportion of students at risk of disadvantage who proceed to higher education.

A mandatory area of learning, entitled "Wellbeing", will be introduced in the junior cycle in 2017. Increasing subject choice for students is important for student motivation and engagement and for ensuring that curriculum development continues to respond to the changing needs of learners, society and the economy. The fact that the action plan will be reviewed each year means that stakeholders will have the opportunity to submit comments and recommendations.

An important goal is to improve the progress of learners at risk of educational disadvantage and learners with special educational needs. While there has been a significant improvement in the number of students from DEIS schools remaining at school until leaving certificate and in literacy and numeracy outcomes, achievement data shows that outcomes in such schools are still below the national norm.Since 2009, no school has been designated DEIS. Will the Minister consider this as part of the review he is taking? As part of the Europe 2020 strategy, Ireland aimed to reduce to 8% the percentage of 18 to 24 year olds with secondary education but not in further education or training. This target has now been exceeded with a current rate of 6.9%. The Department is due to publish and implement a new Action Plan for Education inclusion which will include a schools support programme, an assessment framework for resources allocation, as well as a monitoring and evaluation framework.

The Department of Education and Skills will pilot a new model for the allocation of teaching resources to support children with special educational needs in schools, an important measure. A new inclusion support service for schools will be developed, and there are continual improvements in the aims to help those delivering education services. Ireland is fortunate to attract high calibre people to the teaching profession and our teaching framework has a strong reputation internationally. From my local knowledge of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, I am aware of the high standards which are in place. The Department of Education and Skills will increase investment in the professional development of teachers across the board. The fact professional development is encouraged at all levels is important. School leadership supports will be expanded with the new mentoring programme for newly appointed principals and a professional coaching service for serving principals. A new postgraduate qualification will be rolled out for aspiring school leaders.

Continual improvement in schools will be supported through a new quality framework for external inspection and school self-improvement. A planned programme of external evaluation will be rolled out across the schools sector with a range of new inspection models. Support is to be given to improving the quality of early years provision. The implementation of Aistear and Síolta, the Early Years curriculum and quality frameworks will be supported with training for mentors and trainers and upskilling for the workforce. I have witnessed the value of the Early Years programme in a pilot project run in a primary school in my local electoral area. I fully support the work of and the teachers in this programme.

The Department of Education and Skills will develop a partners and learners charter to give parents and students a strong voice at school level. The Government will legislate for school admissions to make enrolment easier for children and their parents. The Department will also establish 400 multidenominational and non-denominational schools to give greater choice. It has established a National Skills Council to drive the development of the regional skills fora for key infrastructure developments to address skills needs both nationally and regionally. More than 60,000 additional school places will be delivered by 2021 and in excess of 300 extensions to existing schools and 14 schools will be completed.

I welcome the Action Plan for Education. We have an excellent education system of which we can be proud. Current strategies, such as the 20-year strategy for the Irish language and the national skills strategy, help underpin our overall system of education. The programme recognises the need to adapt to changing needs and to increase skills in several key areas. It is important everyone is given the opportunity to reach their potential in every sphere of education and skills.