Written answers

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Department of Education and Skills

Programme for Government Implementation

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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231. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide in tabular format the commitments under the programme for Government which her Department is responsible for; the progress made to date with regard to each commitment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32393/14]

Photo of Jan O'SullivanJan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The timeline for delivery of the Programme for Government commitments is over the lifetime of this Government. To date, the Government has published three annual progress reports, which set out the progress in implementing an extensive number of commitments.

With regard to the commitments relating to my Department, the following table shows the progress made on each. As will be seen from the table, there has been progress in relation to issues such as:- Empowering schools to improve standards;- Protecting frontline services in education;- Enactment of legislation establishing the Education and Training Boards and Solas, the Further Education and Training Authority;- Implementing the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy;- Investing in the School Building Programme, including the Grangegorman project;- Delivering Equity in Education;- Supporting Children with Special Needs;- Promoting inclusiveness in primary schools;- Reforming the Irish curriculum in schools; and- Reforming Third Level Education.

REFCOMMITMENTSTATUS
1.2.1We will - within the first 100 days – resource a Jobs Fund which will provide resources for an additional 15,000 places in training, work experience and educational opportunities for those who are out of workCompleted
1.3.2We will provide a range of initiatives to increase access to further higher level education for the unemployed.In Progress
1.3.3We will make Literacy and basic workplace skills a national priority, with literacy training incorporated into wider variety of further education and training.


In Progress
1.3.4Within this total, we will provide 30,000 additional training places across the education and training system, distributed in line with the recommendations of the Expert Group on Future Skills NeedsCompleted
1.12.15Undertake a full review of the Hunt and OECD reports into third level funding before end of 2011. Our goal is to introduce a funding system that will provide third level institutions with reliable funding but does not impact access for students;


In Progress
1.8.18A National Strategy for International Education will be implemented, to develop the ‘Education Ireland’ brand, to encourage more international students to study here and to create new jobs in the sector.In Progress
1.8.19Our objective will be to double number of international students studying in Ireland, particularly targeting students from India, China and the Middle East.In Progress
1.8.20This policy will be pursued in line with employment, academic and skill requirements of overall economy and education sector.In Progress
2.13.2Schools will publish annual reports.


In Progress
3.15.1A priority in education will be to recruit, train and support the highest calibre of teachers. School leadership will be fundamental to furthering this aim.In Progress
3.15.2Give greater freedom and autonomy to school principals and boards to raise educational standards by devolving more responsibility locally, with greater freedom to allocate and manage staff with required flexibility and to delegate management responsibilities to teachers as school priorities require.In Progress
3.15.3Require schools, with the support of the Inspectorate, to draw up five year development plans for their schools and individual teachers.


In Progress
3.15.4Administrative functions, relating to maintenance, school building projects and coordination of support services currently carried out by principals will be devolved locally.


In Progress
3.16.1Endeavour to protect frontline services in education, and seek efficiencies in work and school practices, in line with the Croke Park Agreement.In Progress


3.17.1A longer term aim of this Government will be to position Ireland in the top ten performing countries in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).In Progress
3.17.2We will review Junior and Leaving Certificate systems and implement reforms necessary to encourage greater innovation and independent learning, building on the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s work in this area.


In Progress
3.17.3Maths and science teaching at second level will be reformed, including making science a compulsory Junior Cert subject by 2014. Professional development for maths and science teachers will be prioritised.In Progress
3.17.4The system for evaluating schools will be reformed so parents have access to more information when choosing a school for their family. A new system of self-evaluation will be introduced, requiring all schools to evaluate their own performance year on year and publish information across a wide range of criteria. Completed
3.17.5A bonus points system for maths, which is linked to specific maths or science courses, will be introduced to encourage greater participation in courses where skills shortages currently exist.  Completed
3.18.1Develop a national literacy strategy for children and young people with school-level targets that are related to national targets. Every school will be required to have a literacy action plan, with demonstrable outcomes. Responsibility for achieving these outcomes will be vested in the school principals, who will also receive continuous professional development to support the implementation of the strategy.Completed
3.18.2Pre-service and in-service training in teaching of literacy for all primary and secondary school teachers will be improved, with dedicated literacy mentors to work intensively with teachers in most disadvantaged primary schools.  Completed
3.18.3DEIS primary schools will be required to teach literacy for 120 minutes per day; non-DEIS schools to teach literacy for 90 minutes per day. This time includes incorporating structured literacy tuition into teaching of other subjects.In Progress
3.19.1Merge the National Centre for Technology in Education with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.Completed
3.19.2Develop a new plan to develop ICT in teaching, learning and assessment. This plan will incorporate the integration of ICT policy across other agencies, such as the Professional Development Services for Teachers, the State Examinations Commission, and Project Maths.In Progress
3.19.3The primary priority for investment in ICT in the immediate term will be the integration of ICT in teaching and learning across the curriculum and investing in broadband development to ensure schools have access to fibre-powered broadband. Investment in ICT will be maximised through pooling of ICT procurement.In Progress
3.19.4Greater use of online platforms will be made to offer a wide range of subjects and lessons online, and to enable schools to ‘share’ teachers via live web casts. These online lessons will be made available through a new Digital School Resource, bringing together existing resources from National Council for Curriculum Assessment, Department of Education and other sources as a cost effective means of sharing expertise between schools.In Progress
3.19.5Engage with the publishing industry to develop more online learning resources and new mediums for their learning materials.In Progress
3.20.1Prioritise school building projects in a revised national development plan.Completed
3.20.2Progressively phase out the inefficient renting of school prefabs. In the interim the negotiation of prefab rental contracts will be part of a reformed public procurement policy to encourage greater value for money, transparency and reduce dependency on temporary accommodation.In Progress
3.20.3The devolution of an annual capital budget to schools will be piloted to allow schools to plan for capital projects.Will not be progressed
3.20.4The Department of Education’s central database of school accommodation will be overhauled to ensure a complete inventory of school buildings and associated structures is maintained so deficiencies are easily identifiable.In Progress



3.20.5
In areas of demographic growth, Shared Educational Campuses will be the preferred model for future development of educational infrastructure. New schools will be built to grow with their communities and to provide for more interactive, child-friendly model of educationIn Progress
3.20.7Negotiate the transfer of school infrastructure currently owned by 18 religious orders cited in Ryan Report, at no extra cost, to the State. In principle, school buildings and land will be zoned for educational use, so that they cannot easily be sold and lost to system.In Progress
3.21.1Consider the recommendations of the review of the DEIS programme and use it as platform for new initiatives to deliver better outcomes for students in disadvantaged areas.In Progress
3.21.2Examine how to make existing expenditure on educational disadvantage more effective, and innovative ways in which teenagers at risk of leaving school system can stay connected, for example through use of ICT-based distance learning and projects such as iScoil.In Progress
3.21.3Publish a plan for the implementation of the EPSEN Act 2004 to prioritise access for children with special needs to an individual education plan. The priority will be to move to a system where necessary supports follow a child from primary to second level and to achieve greater integration of special needs-related services.


In Progress
3.21.4Support diversity in education of children with special needs, recognising that both intensive education and mainstreaming can be seen to work for individual children.In Progress
3.21.5We recognise the critical importance of early diagnosis of autism and early intervention and address current deficits in this area. We will reverse the cut to the number of psychologists in National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) in Budget 2011.In Progress
3.21.6Encourage schools to develop anti-bullying policies and in particular, strategies to combat homophobic bullying to support studentsIn Progress
3.21.8Examine supports in place for gifted students and create improved links with third level institutions on regional basis, to provide gifted students with access to new programmes or educational resources.


In Progress
3.22.1Initiate a time-limited Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector to allow all stakeholders including parents to engage in open debate on change of patronage in communities where it is appropriate and necessary. The Forum will have concise terms of reference and will sit for a maximum of 12 months.Completed
3.22.2The Forum’s recommendations will be drawn up into White Paper for consideration and implementation by Government to ensure that education system can provide sufficiently diverse number of schools, catering for all religions and none.


Completed
3.22.3Give parents and local communities the opportunity to have a say in the patronage of existing and future schools, for example by direct ballot.In Progress
3.22.4Move towards a more pluralist system of patronage at second level, recognising a wider number of patrons.Completed
3.22.5People of non-faith or minority religious backgrounds and publicly identified LGBT people should not be deterred from training or taking up employment as teachers in the State.In Progress
3.23.1Review the recommendations of Hunt report on higher education. A reform of third level will be driven by the need to improve learning outcomes of undergraduate degree students, as well as providing high quality research.In Progress
3.23.2Initiate a time-limited audit of level 8 qualifications on offer and learning outcomes for graduates of these coursesIn Progress
3.23.3Introduce radical reform in third level institutions to maximise existing funding, in particular reform of academic contracts and will encourage greater specialisation by educational institutions.In Progress
3.23.4We support the relocation of DIT to Grangegorman as resources permit.In Progress
3.23.5We will explore the establishment of a multi campus Technical University in the South East.


In Progress
3.23.7We will merge the existing accreditation authorities; National Qualifications Authority, FETAC and HETAC to increase transparency. Completed
3.24.1We will expand training options for jobseekers across the VEC, further and higher education sectors to facilitate upskilling of the labour force.In Progress
3.24.2We will address the widespread and persistent problem of adult literacy through the integration of literacy in vocational training and through community education.In Progress
3.34.11Update the out-dated drugs awareness programmes in schools to reflect current attitudes and reality of recreational drug use amongst teens.


Completed
3.41.3Encourage schools to develop anti-bullying policies and in particular, strategies to combat homophobic bullying.In Progress
3.42.2Facilitate people with disabilities in achieving a greater level of participation in employment, training and education.


In Progress
4.6.2We will undertake a thorough reform of the Irish curriculum and the way in which Irish is taught at primary and second levels of education. We will reform the curriculum so more emphasis is put on oral and aural skills. We will allocate 50% of marks to the oral Irish exam at Leaving Certificate level.In Progress
4.6.3We will aim to double the proportion of Irish students sitting the Higher Level Leaving Certificate exam by 2018.In Progress
4.6.7We will take steps to improve the quality and effectiveness of the teaching of Irish at second level. When these steps have been implemented, we will consider the question of whether Irish should be optional at Leaving Certificate.In Progress

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