Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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453. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress in the implementation by her Department of Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. [42890/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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My Department is committed to ensuring that the views of children are considered and taken into account in allmatters affecting him or her in accordance with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In particular, my Department's Inspectorate listens to the voices of students during inspections as getting their views on the work of schools is an important step in arriving at sound evaluative judgements regarding the quality of the education provided. The Inspectorate has, in recent years, given students a greater voice in the evaluation process. As a result:

- Inspectors interact with students during inspections, and in whole-school evaluations at post-primary level they meet with a focus group of students

- To strengthen the voice of students in evaluations, the Inspectorate introduced confidential learner questionnaires as part of whole-school evaluations in primary and post-primary schools in 2010. These questionnaires collect information on the views of students about the work of the school and their experiences at the school.

- Between September 2010 and December 2012, over 35,900 learner questionnaires were administered by the Inspectorate in primary schools and over 26,500 learner questionnaires were administered in post-primary schools.

- The learner questionnaires are confidential. They are processed in the Evaluation Support and Research Unit (ESRU) of the Inspectorate and a copy of the analysed statistical data from the questionnaires is made available to the inspectors conducting the evaluation and to the school. The data is used as an important source of evidence by the inspection team.

Other examples include:

The establishment of student councils in primary and post primary schools to give students a voice. Data from latest Lifeskills survey (2012) indicate that 14% of primary and 97% of post primary schools have established student councils.My Department will continue to encourage the establishment of student councils in schools

The work by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) to ensure that the voice of the child contributes to the development of policy and service delivery in relation to the provision of psychological services to schools and children

On-going consultation with children and young people as part of the revision of curricula, including the Primary School Curriculum and the Junior Cycle Curriculum.

Children and young people were consulted on the Digital Strategy for Schools. As part of the internet safety awareness initiative of the PDST Technology in Education initiative, the views of young people are sought through the Webwise Youth Advisory Panel.

Young people working as apprentices have their views represented on the National Apprenticeship Advisory Committee through their union representation. The views of apprentices also informs the work of the Education and Training Boards, the Institutes of Technology and SOLAS.

My Department's continued commitments to the voice of the child will form part of the strategy on Children and Young People's participation in Decision Making which is being developed by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.