Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo don chéad uair mar Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanad as ucht an t-am agus an deis seo a thabhairt dom. I am very proud to be here today for the first time as Minister for Education and Skills. I thank the Cathaoirleach and his colleague Senators for the opportunity to engage with the House today in regard to the roadmap for the reopening of our schools and the calculated grades process for leaving certificate 2020 students. I also want to congratulate the Cathaoirleach in securing the elevation to the role of Cathaoirleach last week. It represents a vote of confidence in the Cathaoirleach from his colleague Senators. As a fellow Kerry native, may I say how proud we are in your home county of the Cathaoirleach's achievement and I wish him every possible success and good fortune in the role.

When the then Taoiseach announced on 12 March that all schools, colleges, universities and other training and learning facilities were to close as a consequence of Covid-19, it was the commencement of a series of significant challenges across the education and training sector. Those challenges have continued to be managed by my Department, the education partners and a range of stakeholders ever since. The interests of students and their families, as well as the safety of the staff in the sector, have been the paramount considerations throughout as the challenges before us have been worked through.

Coming from an education background and as a regular contributor to the debates on education in the Dáil before becoming the Minister for Education and Skills, I was keenly aware of the interest in education but also the concerns and, at times, the anxieties of students, their families, their school communities and more generally in how those challenges needed to be addressed. One of the most significant challenges was how the leaving certificate class of 2020 could receive certification for their work which would allow them to proceed to other study, to training, to work or to follow other pursuits. I will return to the topic of calculated grades in a short while.

Since I was appointed Minister the number one priority for me, for the Government, my Department and the wider schools sector and society has been the safe reopening of our schools at the start of the new school year in late August and early September. We said in reopening our schools, we would be guided by the available public health advice and comprehensive engagement with stakeholders or partners in education, including the school management bodies and staff representatives, as well as students and parents. There has never been any doubt but that I as Minister, my predecessor, my Department, school leaders and staff all want to see schools reopening as normal in the new school year in late August and-or early September and based on the normal timeframes for return. Yesterday, I brought proposals to Cabinet which outlined a comprehensive funding package and plan to provide the necessary supports and clear guidance for primary and post-primary schools to return safely in the new term. I also sought approval to publish a roadmap for the full return of schools, described yesterday by the Taoiseach as the most comprehensive and detailed sectoral plan he had seen. Cabinet agreed to both and I was able to publish both the roadmap and details of the over €375 million in additional funding necessary to support its implementation. The roadmap outlines a comprehensive range of measures being provided to support the full reopening of schools in time for the start of the new school year. It was developed following intensive engagement with stakeholders from the education sector, including teachers' unions, SNAs, school caretakers and secretaries, representatives of principals and deputy principals, school management bodies and representatives of parents and post-primary students.

The roadmap and the funding package recognise the challenges faced by schools in ensuring the safe return of over 1 million students and approximately 100,000 staff in 4,000 schools in the context of Covid-19. It sets out clear plans and practical guidance on the measures schools will need to take to operate safely and minimise the risk of the introduction and spread of infection in schools. The roadmap and the documentation relating to it provide schools with guidance on training, checklists for schools on preparing for reopening and guidance for operating schools safely in a Covid-19 context. It advises on matters such as logistics, the curriculum, teaching, managing school activities, supporting pupils with additional needs, administration and, very importantly, well-being. In other words, it is a comprehensive plan.

My Department has prepared a suite of support materials for schools, including guidance on the curriculum and the well-being of students and staff, as well as protocols for minimising the risk of spread of infection in schools. In addition, I also published template Covid-19 response plans for schools. These plans provides clear and practical guidance and support to schools on the range of measures that need to be put in place to bring everyone back to school safely. The funding supports are comprehensive across a range of areas and include the following measures: funding for replacement of staff who cannot come to school because they are at very high risk of Covid-19, including teaching staff, SNAs and administrative staff, which can occur where staff members who are identified in line with HSE guidance as being at very high risk of Covid-19 are advised to cocoon; funding for additional supply panels at primary level, which will ensure more certainty regarding the availability of substitute teachers for primary schools; funding for over 1,000 additional teachers - including 120 additional guidance positions - at post-primary level to help with physical distancing and class sizes; funding to provide release days for teaching principals at primary level to meet the administrative burden arising from the changes and the impacts of Covid-19, which will mean that all teaching principals will have one release day per week - something I am particularly pleased to be able to deliver because I consider it a really essential support to reduce the burden on these principals - and there will be some release time for deputy principals in primary schools; enhanced cleaning and hygiene measures, which are particularly important, are also included and the additional funding being provided will enable schools to have daily cleaning arrangements and purchase supplies of hand sanitiser and any other PPE material necessary; funding for enhanced supervision, which is a key control measure to support schools in minimising interaction of students from different classes in line with public health advice; and funding to support school leadership, especially principals, in getting schools ready. On the latter, every school will be able to employ an aide to help get the school ready for the return. As announced in the July stimulus package, funding of €75 million will support minor capital works for all schools.

As already stated, reopening schools is a priority for the Government. It has been my priority since becoming Minister. In preparing for the reopening of schools, we know that most students, their families and school staff will be looking forward to going back, reconnecting with the school environment, staff and their friends and settling back into school work. There is a strong emphasis in the roadmap on safety and on practical arrangements, but also on ensuring the well-being of students and the entire staff community.One of the key elements to ensuring that schools, once they reopen, can remain open is to prevent the Covid-19 virus from getting into a school in the first instance. This will mean students, their families and staff playing their roles in keeping the virus out of their school by ensuring those who have symptoms or suspect they have the virus stay out of school, by maintaining best practice in hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette in school and by minimising social contacts and respecting physical distancing practices.

The public health advice which underpins all of this has been published and recognises that physical distancing in a school context has some specific elements acknowledging. It states:

The principle of distancing can be usefully applied in the school setting, allowing for some flexibility when needed [...] However, it must be applied in a practical way, recognising that the learning environment cannot be dominated by a potentially counterproductive focus on this issue

Reopening our schools is not just a matter of achieving a certain minimum physical distancing, it is about getting students re-engaged fully with learning, socialising with their peers, for some preparing for examinations, and for others transitioning to school life or to a different level in terms of moving from primary to post-primary. Students need the support of their families, teachers and school staff in readjusting to school life and physical learning environments again.

It is realistic to predict that all students, parents and school staff will experience a broad range of feelings as part of the return to school. This may include a mixture of excitement, happiness and relief but may also include anxiety and fear. This is understandable given these circumstances and there is a response in place to support the well-being of our school communities as part of the planning to return to school.

I can assure the House that there is full engagement with the education partners and that everyone is committed to supporting schools to prepare at a local level for their reopening. There will also be comprehensive communication with students and parents so that they are fully informed over the coming weeks. My Department is providing dedicated and direct contact channels to schools so that where issues might arise they can be resolved quickly. Government has provided a comprehensive plan and supports to ensure we can reopen our schools but we must continue to work together to achieve the goal of seeing our schools reopen.

Returning to the calculated grades process for the leaving certificate class of 2020, my predecessor announced the calculated grades process in May and the schools-level estimated marks data was returned by schools to the Department by late June. A specific process for those learners who are outside of school settings was put in place. The calculated grades executive office in my Department has in recent weeks undertaken the national standardisation process, which is a step necessary for the conversion of estimated marks to calculated grades in a manner comparable with leaving certificate grades over the years. In parallel, the office has also been reviewing the circumstances of the out-of-school learners who have sought to obtain calculated grades. Decisions on these applications will issue in the coming days.

Leaving certificate 2020 students were asked to log on to the student portal set up to assist administering the process over the last week to opt in to receive calculated grades. By the closing time of 4 p.m. yesterday approximately 59,300 of those due to complete their studies in 2020 had chosen to opt in. The calculated grades executive office will continue to follow up with students who have not yet opted in to ensure all eligible students who wish to avail of the calculated grades process have the maximum opportunity to do so.

Senators will be aware that I announced previously that the results of the calculated grades process will issue to students on 7 September and by the end of that week, on 11 September, the CAO has indicated it will issue the first round of offers for places in higher education this year. The additional three weeks for the release of the results are necessary because we are operating a brand new system this year which was designed and implemented rather quickly. The key points are that students will receive a leaving certificate that is comparable with those obtained in other years and that students can proceed to the next stage of their lives in a timely fashion.The State Examinations Commission is planning to hold the deferred leaving certificate written examinations in November of this year, provided it is safe to do so.

These are changed times. As a country we have stood up to the challenges before us and we have seen great resilience, tremendous community spirit and a shared responsibility to contribute to the fight against the Covid-19 virus. We are now committed to reopening our society in every sense and the schools sector is now preparing to get our students back into classrooms in the coming weeks. The Government is fully committed to supporting that return and has shown the scale of that commitment in the support package announced yesterday. I know Senators will support our students, schools and communities in getting back to school as normal in the coming weeks. Faoi mar a bhí riamh, tá anois, ní neart go cur le chéile.