Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to address the very many valid concerns of Members of this House. I congratulate the Minister and wish her well in her new position. I met her before either of us ever had designs on the Houses of the Oireachtas, probably in 2001, when the Minister was chairperson of Tralee host town committee welcoming Special Olympians to the town. At that point, I thought the Minister an incredible leader within her community and from that I learned how passionate she was about education, culture and, in particular, supporting people with special needs. I am very glad we are crossing paths again in this House.

I have no doubt about her capability to lead us forward. The Minister has had a very difficult task since being appointed only a few short weeks ago, and when we think about the level of debate, preparation and engagement that had to be undertaken immediately, there was quite a phenomenal task for her. The Minister presented the roadmap yesterday and I have had the opportunity to go through it, although not in significant detail. I look forward to having the time to do that after this engagement. I say "Well done" to the Minister, the departmental officials and all those stakeholders who engaged fully, including students, parents, teachers and boards of management. Everybody has the abiding ambition to reopen the schools fully and safely but much detail had to be gone through before people could be comfortable. I know we all wish every single school and board of management well over the next few weeks as they make those preparations.

I will comment on the roadmap before raising some matters on which we focused in the previous four years of work on the Oireachtas education committee. In speaking about education, I think of the words of the great educator and philanthropist who was president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation at one time, Mr. Vere Foster, who spoke about a nation's greatness depending on the education of its people. That connection between education and the welfare of any nation has been made in every century by all the philosophers, including Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. Never has that connection been so important as now. This is a time of connection between the State and education. It is certainly the matter that has been brought to me most often over the past few weeks and months.

There is no doubt that schools around Ireland faced many significant and different challenges when they responded to the initial closures on 12 March. Much depended on their location and socio-economic environments. The Economic and Social Research Institute did some work in this regard, giving particular insight into those directly involved with the challenges arising from the sudden switch to distance learning.I hope we learn from that and get the opportunity to put contingency plans in place if such a scenario arises again. The ability of schools to respond was very much affected by broadband availability in the catchment areas. Both teachers and students were challenged to improve their digital competencies, and this is something we must consider. Schools, by their nature, are communities at their heart, and the challenge of maintaining school communities and bringing them forward is absolutely immense. I know the Minister is very conscious of this, as we are. Students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs were very deeply affected by the shift to distance learning. I saw some research from other European countries about the number of students who disengaged from the educational process after a period. I would like to see some research done on that in Ireland so we can get to see the bigger picture of the existing gaps.

Appendix 1 of the document contains a return-to-work form for staff, secretaries and those working in the educational environment. I would like to see a similar form for the parents of students. It would be important in our approach to these final and crucial weeks. There are particular concerns that have been raised by incoming sixth year students, and I thank them for their engagement with me on the State exams to be held next year. I had the opportunity to raise some of these points with the Minister. This will be an ongoing matter and we must keep a very clear eye on it.

There are incredibly welcome grants included in the unprecedented €375 million budget that is going to the schools, but some schools will have major problems in maintaining any type of physical distancing. I mention in particular St. Paul's school in Monasterevin, which is currently doubling its capacity. There are only two toilets to cater for 175 boys. I know we have great expectations for a new building very soon but I have great concerns about schools like this. I have no doubt there are similar examples around the country, including Coláiste Íosagáin in Portarlington, where pupils and teachers will not be able to pass and a one-way system will have to be implemented when students emerge from classes. Of course, there are students who do not have schools to go to. Schools in Newbridge, Kildare and the Curragh are still awaiting sanction for building projects.

I hope we do not forget about our caretakers and secretaries, particularly as we are going to depend on them so much. Down the line, I hope there will be the opportunity to include them in pension schemes. Home school liaison and school completion officers do incredible work, particularly with families that have had the traditional challenges engaging with schools. Now is the opportune time to look at those programmes and help to develop them, especially as school completion officers are coming to the Department.

I am really glad to see a big focus on the well-being of students and staff. A report on the level of depression among secondary school students, which is a matter of great concern, was compiled in 2017. We need to focus on that.

I have two more quick points to bring to the Minister's attention. The first relates to the development of relationships and sexual education in schools. The education committee of the previous Dáil had comprehensive engagement with stakeholders on this matter and made 18 very strong recommendations in respect of it. I hope the Minister will take up those. The second point is on the retention of records. The education committee had the opportunity to engage with survivors of the residential institutions. I have no doubt that the Bill proposed by the previous Government in respect of this matter should not go ahead.