Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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178. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the educational benefits being seen due to an initiative (details supplied) which is operating in a national school in County Leitrim; if he will consider visiting the school in the near future to determine if this programme could be rolled out nationally with his support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15118/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The curriculum in schools must meet an extensive range of needs in catering for the cognitive, emotional, imaginative, aesthetic, social, physical and moral development of students, and in preparing them for the demands of citizenship, lifelong learning and social and economic participation.

Key messages arising from evaluations of the curriculum relate to overload, and the need to make more time and space for the acquisition of core skills.

Given the issues of overload which are emerging in evaluations, allied with criticisms that some of these areas receive inadequate coverage, it is not feasible for the curriculum to be further extended to include chess for learning.

However, it is open to schools to engage with external providers to meet the curriculum objectives.