Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 561: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the percentage of post primary schools that offer a transition year; the percentage of post primary students who could avail of the year that do so; the criteria applied in formulating the syllabus; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35373/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 636 second level schools offered the Transition Year Programme in the 2005/06 school year, which represented almost 87% of all second level schools.

My Department publishes data on the number of pupils enrolled in each programme in its annual Statistical Report. Although the report for the 2005/06 school year is still in preparation, I can inform the Deputy that the provisional figures of 25,808 pupils were enrolled in the Transition Year Programme for the 2005/06 school year. Information concerning the percentage of students availing of the programme is not available in my Department.

Every year my Department invites all second level schools to participate in the Transition Year Programme. Circular 0034/2006 invited applications from schools for the 2006/2007 school year. Schools are given an additional grant of €63.49 per pupil to support the delivery of the programme.

Schools providing the programme for the first time are required to register with the full-time Second Level Support Service which provides inservice training, advisory services, and website resources to support the programme.

Schools have flexibility to devise their own programme within the framework of the general guidelines published by my Department. This document sets out the overall aims, curriculum principles, suggested areas of content, teaching approaches, assessment and organisational arrangements for the programme.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has published its proposals for reform of senior cycle education. These envisage that students availing of a 3 year senior cycle programme will study at least 11 Transition Units and 2 short courses in addition to their chosen Leaving Certificate option. The flexibility and methodology which has been successfully adopted in the existing programme will continue, but the NCCA will develop a common template and validate a large range of Transition Units which can be offered in schools. A mechanism will also be developed under which schools and agencies may develop modules and have them validated for inclusion in the programme. The greater standardisation of Transition Units is a welcome development. I have indicated to the Council my preference that, for equity reasons, the Transition Year should be retained as a single year stand alone programme.