Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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835. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the management training, including project management training, that primary school principals and deputy principals receive to enable them to fulfil their duties. [19070/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Oide is the national support service providing professional learning for teachers and school leaders. The Oide Leadership Team is engaged in the provision of a suite of high-quality professional learning offerings for school leaders at each stage of the leadership continuum including teacher leaders, middle leaders, and senior school leaders. The team uses a blended approach of online and face to face provision.

Misneach, Tánaiste, Tuiscint and Forbairt are key professional development programmes for primary school leaders in Ireland. All are based around the domains and standards set out in ‘Looking at Our Schools 2022: A Quality Framework for Primary and Special Schools’.

The Tuiscint programme is a preparatory initiative for newly appointed primary principals in Ireland. It focuses on the operational and managerial aspects of school leadership. Tuiscint serves as an initial step before engaging in the two-year Misneach programme, which offers further support during the early stages of principalship.

Misneach is a two-year programme designed for newly appointed principals. It focuses on developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for effective school leadership, emphasising collaborative learning and reflection.

Tánaiste is a one-year programme tailored for newly appointed deputy principals. It aims to build leadership capacity, promoting collaborative decision-making and shared responsibility between principals and deputy principals.

Forbairt is a programme for experienced school leaders, including principals and deputy principals and one other leader in the school. It provides opportunities for leadership teams to reflect on and enhance their collaborative practices, focusing on leadership theory and its application in school settings.

In supporting middle leaders, this year, the Comhar programme is providing professional learning to primary assistant principals in all education support centres.

Oide Leadership provide further significant supports for school leaders and leadership teams through mentoring and coaching. The coaching support, fully funded by my department makes Ireland unique in its support of principals and school leadership teams.

The Post Graduate Diploma in School Leadership , accredited by University of Limerick, University of Galway and University College Dublin, and part funded by my department has attracted approximately 300 aspiring school leaders each year over the past seven years. Approximately 50% of these aspiring leaders are teachers working in primary schools.