Seanad debates

Thursday, 6 October 2016

Action Plan for Education: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Jerry ButtimerJerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the contributions of Members but I was wondering whether the Minister had done anything at all in his first 100 days in office and whether, given some of the commentary, he was just occupying the seat. Like Senator Boyhan, I have no script but I have been a passionate educator for 16 years, like the Acting Chairman. The Minister has come into the Department with a clear roadmap and plan.

Let us look at from where we have come. As this debate is taking place today, our live register has fallen below 300,000 and unemployment is falling to below 8%. There are 2 million people working, for the first time in eight years. That gives this Minister the opportunity to work on retraining, upskilling and educating people, something in which I passionately believe. One of the greatest joys of my teaching career was when I saw people going back to education or into further education, or those who did not sit the leaving certificate doing the applied leaving certificate and being able to have a career.

Let us have a real debate about education. If we follow the mantra of some, we will throw all the money in the world into it and will end up with nothing. We have an action plan for education which prioritises earlier intervention and deals with how we can change our curriculum to invest in the child. I agree with Senator Ó Ríordáin that education is not about leaving certificate results or whether one gets into college. It is not about the bullet points in the Minister's action plan. It is about the ability of a person to become immersed in drama, music or sport or to do a job-shadow programme in which they work with people with disabilities. We have come through huge cuts in funding for education but, in the North, Sinn Féin is closing schools down and cutting their budgets. They should not come down to lecture us about what is happening here while, in the North, they do the opposite.

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