Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Seery Kearney for sharing. I will be very brief.I commend the Minister for her calmness, professionalism and the way in which she carried out her business. When other people around her were playing politics, the Minister was firm and decisive. As Senator Murphy and other Senators said, mistakes were made. We accept that. I hope that following this the State Examination Commission and the Department of Education will sit down with the unions and teachers to iron out the circumstances of what happened.

I thank the class of 2020, the teachers and all the people involved in our school communities for the way in which they have responded to this pandemic. When the history of education in 2020 is written, the professionalism of our teachers, school secretaries, caretakers, management, the parents and the students will be found to have stood up to this crisis.

I ask that the Minister would reflect upon the period of the 1990s when this country engaged in major reform of the education system. I speak as a teacher who taught in education. Education reform is very important. As Maslow said, it is about all of us being able to reach that point of self-actualisation. All of us want our students to reach their full potential.

I agree with Senator Ruane that we must reform the education system. That means giving students critical thinking powers and the ability to be able to work beyond rote learning and consider what prepares the student for the outside world.

In an article in The Irish Times, Brian Mooney wrote that the journey of the leaving certificate 2020 was a remarkable one. I hope the journey is but one step for all of us in education. We have a Citizens' Assembly dealing with many issues. We have published a White Paper and a Green Paper on education, and the Minister is an educationalist. I hope that when this period of the pandemic ends we can reflect upon how we can progress the leaving certificate and our education system. We have never been afraid of change in respect of the education system in modern times, whether it was the leaving certificate applied, the reform of the junior certificate, issues around the Universities Act, early childhood education, the Education Act or the Munster Technological University, MTU, at third level. As professionals, we embody change as professionals in the education system.

I thank the Minister. I thank also the former Minister, Joe McHugh, for his leadership and the way he handled himself as Minister. We have been fortunate to have two Ministers in succession who can be regarded as safe pairs of hands. However, an error was made in the leaving certificate algorithm and that needs to be addressed. That is not an issue for Members of this House but it is for the people who were involved. I thank Senator Seery Kearney for sharing her time with me.