Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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544. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, subjects in schools; and her further plans to promote them specifically to girls of primary school age. [5996/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Primary Curriculum (NCCA, 1999), in particular the Science and Mathematics Curricula, governs provision in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) in Primary Schools. A high standard of scientific and mathematical skills for boys and girls is recognised to be critical in Ireland's economic development.

Science became a compulsory subject for all primary pupils with the introduction of the Primary School Curriculum in 1999. Infant pupils receive 45 minutes of instruction per week while 1st to 6th pupils receive one hour instruction per week.

Discover Primary Science is a national programme designed to foster interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in primary schools. Last year they presented 517 schools with Awards of Science and Maths excellence.

EMC Robotics Initiative (VEX IQ) was launched on 05/09/2014 by Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English TD. EMC has teamed up with primary schools to design and build their own robots. The global initiative is designed to encourage STEM learning and drive interest in technology from a young age.

Scoilnet is the Department of Education and Skills (DES) official portal for Irish education. The website is managed by Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) in Education on behalf of the DES. The Sci-Spy Initiative which is a section of this website is aimed at primary students in 5th and 6th classes.

Science Week Ireland is an annual event established to promote the relevance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in our everyday lives. It is coordinated by SFI Discover, the education-outreach programme of Science Foundation Ireland, who also help fund Engineers Week.

Significant system developments have been introduced in the primary school system to promote teaching and learning in Mathematics for boys and girls including standardised national assessments of reading and mathematics introduced in 2007; the National strategy to improve literacy and numeracy introduced in 2011 and School self-evaluation guidelines for primary schools published in 2012.

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies) is a project of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). It is designed to assess the mathematics and science achievement of fourth class pupils. In 2011, Ireland took part in TIMSS for the first time since 1995. Ireland's mean score of 527 is significantly above the TIMSS mathematics centre of 500. Ireland is in 17th position in the TIMSS mathematics table. In Ireland, girls averaged 526 and boys averaged 529. The 3-point gap is not statistically significant, and is broadly similar to the overall international average gender age gap.

Ireland is shown as 22nd position in the TIMSS science table. In ireland, boys and girls obtained identical mean scores (516).

The evidence from TIMSS indicates that girls are performing as well as their male counterparts in Science and Mathematics in primary schools. The promotion of STEM subjects to girls only does not appear necessary.

In January this year, I launched the performance report on the 2014 National Assessments of English and Reading and Mathematics which was prepared by the Educational Research Centre. Their study of 8000 pupils in 150 primary schools found that overall performance in reading and maths in second and sixth classes was significantly higher than for the 2009 assessments. These are the first significant improvements in over 30 years. Such improvements are to be welcomed.

The NCCA has recently provided me with new specifications for Leaving Certificate Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The NCCA has notified the Department that before the specifications made available to all schools that it, working with the SEC and my Department, will trial, in particular the proposed new practical examination. It is expected, for example, that the new Physics specification, when it is introduced, will not attract more higher level students but it is hoped that it will also attract more girls and more students to study Physics at Ordinary level. Work is underway on revising Leaving Certificate Applied Mathematics. One of its aims would be to broaden the possible content so that it will be attractive to a wider cohort, especially for girls.

The new Junior Cycle Science specification has been submitted to me, by NCCA, this month, for approval. This will form a firm foundation for the sciences at senior cycle. There is a significant overlap between the developments in the sciences at Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle. Thus the CDP provided for Junior Cycle Science will also start to prepare science teachers for the changes which will follow in the Leaving Certificates sciences. There will be many synergies between the two and there is a natural progression. Of course there will be dedicated CPD provided to Leaving Certificate science teachers to prepare them to introduce the new specifications not only in Physics but also in Chemistry and Biology. A unified CPD strategy will support a consistent experience of teaching and learning in the science curricula throughout post-primary education.