Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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285. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the level an honours leaving certificate in Irish is equivalent to on the European Common Framework of Reference for Languages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30998/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is a tool for describing levels of language competence and is based on the understanding that the language learning pedagogy, including assessment takes a communicative approach. While there are communicative aspects to the teaching and assessment of languages in post-primary schools, including oral/aural examinations, there is also a significant written aspect, including essay writing, poetry and prose. For that, and other, reasons it is difficult to directly relate achievement in Leaving Certificate Irish with the CEFR.

The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI), now Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), produced a document in 2007 exploring the issues involved in establishing a relationship between the CEFR and the National Framework of Qualifications, NFQ, in which the Leaving Certificate itself is placed across Levels 4 and 5. The document also set out some tentative equivalences between CEFR levels and NFQ levels.

This informal process found that there could be considered to be a relatively strong correspondence between NFQ Level 3 (i.e. Junior Certificate level) and CEFR level A1, and between NFQ Level 5 and CEFR level B1. Therefore varying levels of achievement in Leaving Certificate Irish, across Levels 4 and 5 of the NFQ, might be considered to be broadly comparable to levels A2 and B1 of the CEFR.

However, it must be stressed that the comparisons above are the result of an informal, exploratory process conducted by the NQAI to assess the feasibility of relating the NFQ to the CEFR. Establishing a direct relationship between the language competence demonstrated by achievement in the Leaving Certificate and the CEFR would require a more formal, detailed process to be undertaken.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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286. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will reverse the decision to remove the compulsory status of CSPE in the new junior cycle curriculum in view of the fact that Ireland has an obligation to provide human rights education as a result of various United Nations Conventions to which the Irish State is a party; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31005/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In the context of the implementation of the new Framework for Junior Cycle the only subjects that will be "compulsory" are English, Mathematics and Irish. This decision has been taken to give schools the flexibility to develop their Junior Cycle programme mindful of the educational needs of their own students and mindful of the principles, statements of learning and key skills as set out in the Framework.

Education about active citizenship and the promotion of human rights issues are an integral component of the new Framework for Junior Cycle. For example, one of the 24 'Statements of Learning', that encompass the key knowledge and skills that students will develop during their junior cycle, requires that all students will "value what it means to be an active citizen with rights and responsibilities in local and wider context".

In addition, the 8 key skills which underpin the new Framework for Junior Cycle, include "working with others" whereby students should realise and experience how they can "contribute to making the world a better place". As junior cycle students will experience the statements of learning and key skills, it is expected that education for active citizenship and education about human rights and responsibilities will continue to be an important part of the new Junior Cycle.

A new short course in CSPE, which has been developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), will be available to schools to implement from this September, should they wish to do so as part of their Junior Cycle programme. Alternatively, schools may choose to continue to offer the current CSPE syllabus. The new short course is in fact designed for 100 hours of teaching compared to less than 70 hours for the existing CSPE syllabus.

The new short course aims to inform, inspire, empower and enable young people to participate as active citizens in contemporary society at local, national and global levels based on an understanding of human rights and social responsibilities. One of the three strands in the short course focusses on 'rights and responsibilities'. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), are key documents which underpin the course. Informed by these documents, CSPE students will be expected to participate in activities which include designing a campaign to highlight a human rights issue.

As with Junior Cycle, education about active citizenship and human rights issues are also reflected at Senior Cycle. As part of transition year, students are afforded the opportunity to further interrogate some of the themes encountered in CSPE at Junior Cycle. This is facilitated by the availability of resources and materials that have been developed by a number of NGOs, including Amnesty International, for use by transition year pupils.

I have also indicated my intention to introduce 'Politics and Society' as a new optional Leaving Certificate subject. One of the objectives of the draft syllabus, which has been developed by the NCCA, is to develop 'a sense of care for others and a respect for and a valuing of diversity in all areas of human life within the parameters of human rights principles'. The Politics and Society subject will be made available to schools once the NCCA has advised my Department on a number of outstanding issues.