Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 596: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the reason only 40 minutes per week is allocated to presenting the civic, social and political education programme to junior certificate students; if he is satisfied that this programme developed will be developed and delivered within such a short timeframe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7777/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Civic, Social and Political Education aims to prepare students for active participatory citizenship. This is achieved through comprehensive exploration of the civic, social and political dimensions of their lives at a time when pupils are developing from dependent children into independent young adults. The content of this course has been written in the form of unit descriptions rather than as a specified list of topics to be covered. This format allows teachers and pupils enough scope and flexibility to select and deal with issues such as gender equity, racism and xenophobia, interculturalism, the environment, development, work and unemployment, poverty and homelessness, minorities, and conflict situations such as that in Northern Ireland.

The content of the course incorporates four units of study:

Unit 1: The Individual and Citizenship

Unit 2: the Community

Unit 3: The State – Ireland

Unit 4: Ireland and the World.

The Course in Civic, Social and Political Education complements the treatment and coverage which the civic, social and political dimensions receive within the Junior Certificate programme. Each day, across a range of subjects, pupils study topics and issues, encounter concepts and practice skills which are common both to those subjects and to Civic, Social and Political Education. In this way, various subject teachers already teach particular aspects of Civic, Social and Political Education through their course Material. The Civic, Social and Political Education course provides unique opportunities and greater potential for cross-curricular work in schools.

The course in Civic, Social and Political Education is allocated one class period per week or its equivalent. For a school operating a timetable based on forty-minute class periods, this will allow for a course of approximately 70 hours over the three year period of the junior cycle. Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) was introduced as an obligatory subject in the Junior Certificate Curriculum in 1997. Since then a variety of resource materials and guidelines have been made available to teachers.

The CSPE Support Service have prepared the CSPE Starter Pack CD-Rom for teachers new to Civic, Social and Political Education and these are given out at the Induction In-service courses. All of the key documents relating to CSPE are on the CD-Rom (including the CSPE Syllabus, Teacher Guidelines, Teaching and Learning Materials, Past-Examination Papers, Information on Subject Planning and Subject Inspection, etc.).