Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 435: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the fact that children from low income families are less likely to choose home economics as a school subject; her plans to promote the advantages that home economics as a subject can have for a person's health and to modernise the subject by making it a core subject for the junior certificate; if she will provide funding for materials that are used in compulsory work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26346/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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All Junior Certificate students in second level schools must study Irish, English, Mathematics, Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Civic, Social and Political Education. Each student following an approved Junior Certificate course must take at least three other subjects of his or her own choosing. For the Leaving Certificate, students choose all their subjects except for Irish which is the only compulsory subject. Since curricular choice is important in ensuring that young people can avail of a balanced range of subjects that is in keeping with their interests and abilities, I have no plans to make Home Economics a compulsory subject for the Junior Certificate. Some 35% of the cohort sat Home Economics in the Junior Certificate examination in 2007, compared with 24% in the Leaving Certificate. In relation to support for students from low income families, the Deputy may be aware that schools participating in initiatives such as the School Completion Programme have considerable discretion in how they use the funding they receive to support individual students and the provision of materials for practical work can be one element of such support. Regarding education for health, it should be noted that SPHE has been mandatory for all Junior Cycle pupils since September 2003. As this course builds on SPHE in the Primary School Curriculum, it is clear that SPHE, when considered at primary level and in the junior cycle, provides all students with opportunities to develop skills and competences to enable them to engage in responsible decision-making and to promote their physical, mental and emotional health and well-being. Nutrition and physical activity are specifically addressed in the SPHE module on 'Physical Health'.