Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

339. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the proportion of students opting for third and fourth-level education on an annual basis over the past five years can be addressed in the future by ensuring an increase in third-level places most likely to impact positively on the availability of graduates where required most in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42842/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The transition rate of pupils from post-primary to higher education has remained relatively steady in recent years, varying between 63% and 64%. This refers to the proportion of post-primary school completers who enter higher education up to five years after they finish post-primary education. Ireland has one of the highest educational attainment rates in the OECD, with 55% of 25-34 year olds in Ireland having completed a tertiary degree, as opposed to an OECD average of 45%.

However when looking at the choices of students progressing onwards from post-primary education it is important to also consider students going on to apprenticeships,  traineeships and other further education and training options, not just those progressing to higher education. My Department aims to ensure that learners have a broad range of options available to them across the higher and further education sectors.

There are a number of key strategies in place at all levels to ensure we meet existing and future skills demands. These include policies designed to ensure a pipeline of suitably qualified science and technical graduates, and initiatives to equip young people and the working population more generally with the skills and capacity to meet these demands.

These strategies and initiatives include: the National Skills Strategy 2025; Technology Skills 2022; Springboard+; the Human Capital Initiative and the July Stimulus package.

Under Pillar 2 of the Human Capital Initiative  3,000 undergraduate places are being created in Key Skills areas such as Science, Engineering, ICT and Professional Construction. 1,415 of these places were brought on stream for the 2020 academic year, with the remainder to follow in 2021.

Future Jobs Ireland, which was launched in March 2019 is a new whole-of Government plan to secure Ireland’s economic success. A key element of Future Jobs Ireland is to support business, invest in the development of people and to enhance skills and develop and attract talent to ensure our education and training system is responsive to enterprise needs. We must ensure that we have accessible upskilling options and that our education and training providers offer relevant and up-to-date courses which meet the needs of enterprises and workers.

Springboard+ runs an annual call in order to be in a position to provide the most up to date skills needs courses responding to advances in technology that are impacting the future world of work.  For instance, the 2020 offering of Springboard courses included, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Governance.

In general HE institutions are constantly reviewing and updating their course curriculum in collaboration with enterprise to ensure that undergraduate and taught postgraduate course content is reflecting emerging trends in the future world of work and Industry 5.0.

My Department will continue to align our further and higher education policies with what is required in the workplace. We will do this by working with industry to address current needs and, looking beyond the current world of work, by equipping individuals with the skills they need to succeed in the changing labour market.

I am satisfied that these and other important elements of my Department’s strategies, developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, will help ensure that we are well prepared to meet our skills needs including the scientific needs of the economy.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

340. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the degree to which participation in third-level education continues to be attractive to all students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42843/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Irish Survey of Student Engagement National Report 2020 was published in November, in partnership with the HEA, the IUA, THEA and the USI. 

StudentSurvey.ie asks students directly about their experiences of higher education, including their academic, personal, and social development. In 2020, 44,707 students in 26 higher education institutions participated. For the purposes of StudentSurvey.ie, student engagement reflects two key elements. The first is the amount of time and effort that students put into their studies and other educationally beneficial activities. The second is how institutions deploy resources and organise curriculum and learning opportunities to encourage students to participate in meaningful activities linked to learning.

According to the survey organisers, the insights provided by the approximately 245,000 respondents to the Student Survey over the last seven years are a rich source of inspiration and challenge and their value to individual institutions and at a national level needs to continue to be mined in creative and constructive ways.

The full report is available at the following link:

.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

341. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which male and female students continued to be attracted in equal proportions to participation in the sciences; if a corrective measure or inducement is needed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42844/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The student numbers for all faculties during the academic year 2018/19 is contained in the attached excel spreadsheet.

The Department of Education's STEM Education Policy Statement 2017–2026, published in November 2017, sets out the ambitious goals and actions required to achieve and improve the STEM education experience and outcomes for all learners from Early Years to Post Primary level. In realising Ireland’s aim to have the best education and training service in Europe within a decade, we must provide the most effective and engaging teaching, learning and assessment environment for STEM education at all levels. The STEM implementation plan builds on a range of reforms and initiatives already underway in STEM, in areas such as curriculum and assessment reform, teacher professional development, embedding digital learning and advances in initial teacher education.

Increasing the numbers of females in STEM is a key action in the STEM Education Implementation Plan. There is a need to attract more females into STEM subjects at school level and ensure that they engage in STEM courses at higher or further education. At further and higher education there is a need for a focus on retention as there is a higher attrition rate for females leaving STEM careers than for males.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has forecast that the number of research personnel employed within our knowledge-intensive industries will increase from 25,000 to 40,000 in the next four years. Thus increasing demand for graduates with STEM-related skills and qualifications across different sectors of the economy. Greater retention in STEM courses at Further and Higher Education will ensure that we have qualified people with the right skills to attract job opportunities and investment in these sectors.