Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate Sentator Joe O'Reilly raising this important issue. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Education who was not available this morning. I thank the Senator for raising this and allowing me the opportunity to outline the provisions that are in place to support gifted and talented students.

Our students are among the top performers, as seen in international testing, but it is acknowledged that we need to strengthen our focus on the gifted and talented or exceptionally able students. To this end, the Department of Education proposes to develop a policy which will set out how we will further support these learners. Ireland’s Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024­2033, which was published yesterday, highlights the importance of the need for students with exceptional abilities. One of the key challenges for the Department in conjunction with other stakeholders is to ensure that exceptionally able learners are identified at an early stage and are challenged and supported appropriately, particularly in the areas of literacy, numeracy and digital literacy. The provision of education for children with additional educational needs is a priority for Government and that is reflected in the allocation of €2.7 billion to support special education and inclusive education. That is at the core of the Department's policy, which requires differentiated teaching approaches to cater for the varying levels of ability in the classroom, to provide additional supports to those experiencing difficulty and to ensure the appropriate levels of challenge and enrichment for exceptionally able students.

The Education Act 1998 requires boards of management of each school to publish the policy of the school relating to participation by students with special educational needs, including students who are exceptionally able. It is the duty of the boards of management to ensure that appropriate education services are made available to such students. Schools at both primary and secondary levels have been encouraged to use strategies such as curriculum differentiation, curriculum enrichment and acceleration to facilitate the development of pupils who are exceptionally able.

The new primary curriculum framework sets out a fresh vision for children's learning that is characterised by playfulness, creativity, challenge, risk-taking and opportunity to reasoning and solving real-life problems. As the full redevelopment of the curriculum progresses, new curriculum specifications will be developed by the NCCA for the five curriculum areas and their associated subjects, which will be available for the school year 2025-2026.

Syllabi and curricula for second-level schools have been designed in such a way as to enable teachers to cater for a wide range of student abilities. Content is outlined in the curricula at both levels and the process is also heavily emphasised. Enabling children how to learn is stressed and facilitated. The development of language skills, investigatory and problem-solving skills, higher-order thinking skills and working individually and as a member of a group, are all encouraged at both levels.

The new junior cycle framework incorporated a modernised curriculum across all subjects in a balanced range of assessment modes that provide a learner experience that is appropriate to the needs of the 21st century. It provides students with learning opportunities to strike a better balance between learning, knowledge, and developing a wide range of skills and thinking abilities. In addition, the National Council for Special Education, NSCE, has advised that while it offered professional teaching and learning on a collective basis over past years, take-up was low, so it now provides advisory support directly to schools that require support and an individual basis. Furthermore, schools can apply for in-school supports where professional learning leaders will respond to the contextual needs of the school and its learners.

It is recognised that students are diverse. Through the provision of a wide range of supports for teachers, they are supported to examine and develop teaching and learning approaches that meet the needs of all learners, including gifted and talented students. There is also bespoke, on-site, school-based support, which allows teachers and school leaders to respond directly to the needs of all learners in their own unique context.