Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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250. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the policies that govern the placements of secondary school students during transition year or other work experience placements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12495/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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There is no specific policy that governs placements of second level students for work experience in Transition Year or other programmes such as the Leaving Certificate Applied. The relationship between schools and employers in relation to work experience is managed at local school level. However, there are many established supports of good practice, by both employers and students in these cases, including:

- guidelines on work placement from my Department's Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and coordinators' organisations;extensions of school insurance policies to cover work placement contexts for students;

- contemporaneous monitoring of work placement by teacher visits and/or phone calls;

- evaluation reports by employers and students of the work placement experience immediately after completion;

- DES inspection recommendations regarding the operation of work experience placements.

The above are established aspects of custom and practice in the Irish education system, often supplemented by extra supports depending on circumstances of employment, such as additional safety training. Schools are encouraged to evaluate their work placement programmes annually, and this helps the development of reliable, quality employment opportunities, linked in most instances to the local community. 

My Department recognises that access to work experience for second level students is an extremely valuable element of education and provides students with experience and knowledge that will help inform decisions regarding future studies and career options. The Action Plan for Education 2018 commits to a review of work experience at post-primary level, with a view to increasing access and quality of work experience for students, will commence in Quarter 2 of this year.