Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I will talk about the creative youth and Creative Ireland programme, and creative schools, as I have the opportunity to do so. The Creative Youth Plan 2023-2027 was launched this year. It includes a number of actions related to the senior cycle and the education system more generally, some of which I will highlight. I encourage the Minister to back her Department in support of that plan.

There are underlying issues with the current curriculum for senior cycle students. It can sometimes feel antiquated and sometimes does not address the needs of students and society. More generally, I am probably not alone in saying that I often have nightmares about the leaving cert. Post-primary education should be about much more than a CAO points race and a pathway to formal higher education. As Senator O'Loughlin alluded to, education should promote the education of the whole person. It should provide holistic education, which encourages and empowers everyone to flourish and reach their full potential according to their individual strengths. While the inclusion of greater external assessment and broader choice in the form of drama, film and theatre studies and climate action is welcome, there are other more root-and-branch reforms of the senior cycle we could look at.

I will talk about Creative Ireland. A key commitment in the creative youth plan is for the Department of Education to work closely with the NCCA to ensure that creativity will continue to have a central role in the new senior cycle curriculum. It is also worth highlighting that the creative youth plan is about ensuring enough school time and school space to enable educators, children and young people to embed creativity across all aspects of the formal education curriculum. We know that teachers and students are under time pressures. Often, we want them to address everything, which is simply not possible. I read the creative youth plan today. It outlines what the barriers to creative practice are in post-primary schools. These include a lack of time, curriculum overload, a lack of funding, a lack of awareness of creative initiative opportunities, and increased paperwork. These are things to bear in mind when embedding creativity in our schools. The creative youth plan is extremely ambitious. As a musician and someone who studied music in school, and always chose the practical subjects, I firmly believe in the power of this area. Much is to be done, with many responsibilities lying within the Department. I encourage the Minister to take it as a focus and to encourage her colleagues in the Department to do the same.

There can be no doubt that the Government must act to make education genuinely free and accessible to everyone. That begins with adequate funding and resourcing at a Government level. Budget 2024 should not be a missed opportunity in that regard. At the most basic level, we need our schools to get the funding they need and deserve. However, deep-rooted reforms of our education system are also necessary.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House and giving us time to speak on some of these issues. I appreciate her time and that of her colleagues from the Department.