Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Anyway, I am back and it is good to be back. I do not mean that in a disingenuous way, by the way.

First, I am delighted to be joined by the Minister and members of the committee. It is an opportune time to debate this very important issue in the Seanad. I thank the Cathaoirleach and Members for the opportunity today to discuss the joint committee's Report on the Impact of Covid-19 Primary and Secondary Education.

From the outset of the pandemic, the joint committee recognised that the impact of Covid-19 on primary and secondary level education was an urgent priority and agreed to produce a report on three key areas: first, ensuring schools are open in a manner that is both safe and sustainable; second, the 2020 leaving certificate calculated grades and 2021 leaving certificate preparation; and, third, other issues such as the use of reduced timetables in schools, cyberbullying and educational disadvantages, which have had a significant impact on young people.

As we approach the second anniversary of living in a pandemic, I speak on behalf of the committee when I say that we recognise the great suffering young people have endured over the past two years. We acknowledge their great positivity and resilience in returning to school and continuing their education under very challenging circumstances.

I would also like to pay tribute to the Trojan work performed by the other members of the school community, namely, school principals and their deputies, teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, school secretaries and parents associations. They have managed to provide children and young people with an education despite enormous challenges. They should also be very proud of what they have done for their country.

Returning to the report, though, the committee held several meetings with key education stakeholders on the issue of ensuring schools remain open in a safe and sustainable way. The Irish Second-Level Students' Union, ISSU, contributed to the discussions and represented young people in a real and meaningful way. The committee was briefed by officials from the Department of Education on the 2020 leaving certificate examination and preparations for 2021 leaving certificate. I would like it noted that the committee is currently completing a comprehensive examination on leaving certificate reform and the need for a new senior cycle. A report will be published shortly with concrete, feasible recommendations that I strongly believe can transform the education landscape and give students a very bright future.

Finally, the committee met with the Department of Education regarding the use of reduced timetables and with key academic staff from Dublin City University, DCU, regarding school bullying, cyberbullying and educational disadvantage. I would like to express gratitude both to the Minister's Department and DCU for their tremendous support and continued appearances before the Oireachtas committee. The joint committee was very grateful to all those who appeared before it to give evidence and who took time also to provide written submissions.

I will now refer to some of the ten key recommendations contained in the report. The Minister for Education should formally request the Minister for Health to instruct the HSE to undertake a review of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, guidelines for vulnerable students and families, including a review of risk assessments and attendant categorisation. There has been much stress and anxiety among at-risk teachers, many with serious illnesses, and vulnerable students or students who live with vulnerable people and feel unsafe attending school. However, the committee is happy to see that these guidelines are being updated on an ongoing basis.

The Department of Education should develop a national online learning programme to be rolled out to all primary and secondary schools as a matter of urgent priority. I feel that there is inconsistency in digital skills and a lack of access to technology and broadband, of which we are all very much aware. This risks leaving a cohort of extremely vulnerable students even further behind. Several witnesses who appeared before the committee stressed the need for online learning to be the same across the country. While it is an ambitious aim, there is great merit in developing a national online digital programme similar to what is in place in the further and higher education sector. SOLAS has indicated a willingness to assist the Department of Education. I strongly urge the Minister and her officials to engage with SOLAS in this regard.

Emotional counselling and therapeutic supports should be provided in all primary and secondary schools as an urgent priority. Ireland is out of step with many of its European neighbours in not providing in-school emotional counselling and therapeutic supports. Trauma and mood disorders have been identified as significant factors in early school leaving, and while the services provided by the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, and guidance counsellors are very valuable in their own right, they are not suitable alternatives to on-site therapeutic supports for anxiety, trauma and complex emotional needs. The committee also included this recommendation in its report entitled, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health, which was published in August of last year. The Minister discussed this with us on several occasions during her appearances before the committee.I understand that the Minister is liaising with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, as counselling services fall within the remit of the Department of Health. I would ask that there is a genuine will and joined-up thinking between the Minister and the Minister of State, between their Departments and between their respective officials to make the provision a reality, even on a pilot basis initially. I am utterly convinced from the evidence I have heard, from a diverse range of organisations and individuals, that this service is urgently and desperately needed across the country. One trusted individual on site, with the requisite professional training and expertise, could make all the difference in a child or young person's life.

The provision of hot meals to vulnerable students should be expanded to cover periods of school closures and holidays, and a hot meals programme should be rolled out nationally to all schools on a phased basis. I know this is a matter for the Department of Social Protection as well. The provision of hot meals in schools has been expanded from 6,600 primary school pupils in 2019 to more than 55,000 in 2022. The committee warmly welcomes this increase but would like to see it rolled out across all primary and post-primary schools. This would be transformative to children's lives and meet the commitment in the programme for Government to “Work across government to address food poverty in children and ensure no child goes hungry.” Sitting together and eating a hot meal every day would also be very beneficial in fostering a positive school and food culture and good mental health. School meals are the norm in most European countries and I ask the Minister to work with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, to make sure this is rolled out. I would like to compliment the Minister and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, for their work in this area thus far and I know a lot more has to be done.

The Department of Education should undertake a review of primary and secondary school funding. The committee believes that schools were faced with significant challenges of closures and reopenings during the pandemic. Proper financial and staffing resources must be made available to ensure the additional leadership and management posts can be put in place. These are fundamentally important as we face into the future. It is neither fair nor sustainable that school principals are, in many cases, being asked to carry the enormous burden of keeping their schools open alone. The Education (Student and Parent) Charter Bill 2019 should be enacted as soon as possible and then fully implemented as a key priority for Government. The committee believes that this Bill would play a pivotal role in improving how schools engage with students and their parents. It also sends out a strong message that parents are valued members of the school community. I would ask the Minister to proceed with the Bill's enactment as a matter of urgency.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, senior cycle review advisory report was to be published by the end of June 2021, with due regard to the need for continuous assessment, increased vocational options and international best practice. The report still has not been published. I have urged the Minister and her officials to publish the report and I know a lot of work is going on behind the scenes in the Department of Education on this issue. I again urge the Minister to publish that report as soon as possible. The Department of Education should have published the final guidelines on the use of reduced timetables in schools by the end of March 2021. The committee is happy to note that these guidelines were published in September 2021.

The Department of Education should update the 2013 anti-bullying procedures for primary and secondary schools to include guidelines for addressing homophobia and transphobia. School bullying, including cyberbullying, increased during Covid-19. This is a real issue that the committee discussed, specifically the issue of online bullying during the pandemic. The joint committee went further in examining the 2013 report entitled School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health and the proposed audit of the action plan on bullying, also from 2013. The committee is happy that school bullying is being treated as a wholly separate item in school inspections and that there will also be incidental bullying inspections.

I also commend the Minister on announcing that the inspectorate will publish a composite report on the inspections. In addition, the committee supports the Minister in her efforts not simply to tackle school bullying but to foster positive school cultures, where mutual respect prevails and bullying is simply not tolerated. I am also pleased with reports that the Minister will shortly bring proposals to Cabinet to establish a steering group on the issue, taking account of the committee’s report and recommendations. I thank the Minister for taking the committee’s work on board. I know she feels strongly about it, as do her Department officials and everyone in the Department. It is a real issue, which is clear to anyone who saw the story on “Prime Time” last night on the effects of school bullying. I would like to compliment the parents of that child for coming out last night to tell their story and for having the strength to do so. That is the only way we will combat school bullying, which was a huge issue during Covid-19.

Air monitors and meters, or both, should have been installed in all primary and post-primary schools by the end December 2021, ensuring proper ventilation in classrooms. Before I finish, I would like to refer to an issue that the joint committee was not aware of when publishing the report. The Libraries Association of Ireland, LIA, school group branch has corresponded with the committee recently regarding the need to increase the number of school libraries. I strongly believe that encouraging reading and developing a love for books is fundamentally important, especially, as I think we all agree, as children and young people are spending far too much time on technological devices nowadays. That feeds into school bullying and access to social media platforms, etc. I encourage the Minister to look at the proposal from the LIA. Libraries are safe and calm places that encourage learning but also foster positive mental health. I implore the Minister to honour the commitment from the 2005 DEIS action plan to extend the number of junior certificate school programme, JCSP, libraries from 30 to 50, with a view to further rolling out school libraries nationwide. The goal of the JCSP library project is to foster a lifelong joy from reading and to give students the tools they need to successfully navigate their world as 21st century learners.

The joint committee asks that immediate action is taken to implement all the recommendations in the report. I know it is difficult to implement all of the recommendations and I know the Department is working on some of them. There are some important recommendations in the report that can be implemented and that would make a huge difference to the lives of students and teachers and to school life in general. It is imperative that these key national issues are treated as a matter of top priority by the Department of Education. As I have said before, young people are our future. Let us use the lessons learned in the pandemic to give them a future that this country and our citizens can be proud of. I thank the committee members, the Cathaoirleach, the Minister and her officials for appearing before the committee. I know they will continue to do that into the future.