Introduction
Thank you for the invitation to address your Conference.
“Challenging Times” is the theme of your Conference this year, and it is clear from the agenda that your members are fully committed to tackling the challenges we collectively face.
I hope my participation here today will allow me to make my own determination clear, to work with all education partners to support the effective management of our schools for the benefit of all our young people.
I am always delighted to meet with your leadership, to hear of the issues of concern to your members.
From some of my conversations with your leadership, I am aware of the concerns expressed by your members that we are imposing an excess of new initiatives on our schools at the present time.
That is the area I want to focus my opening remarks on here today.
I firmly believe that these changes should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as a set of interconnected developments.
Developments which will lead to a better future for children and young people, and a better future for school principals and teachers.
And developments which I believe are firmly aligned with the vision of education outlined in “A 2020 Vision For Education” – the document published recently by the Post-Primary Education Forum.
I know that the JMB was an active participant in the preparation of that document, and I want to pay tribute to all of the post-primary education partners for the effort involved.
For my part, I intend to personally reflect on the recommendations and to respond, in due course, to our education partners.
In speaking to you this morning, I also want to convey my appreciation of the contribution that those involved in the management of schools make, including board members and school leaders.
The quality of the education we provide to our young people is very strongly linked to the leadership of school principals, and the support provided by boards of management to the work and life of each school.
I am of course also aware of the report published this morning on the workload issues facing school leaders in voluntary secondary schools, and I’m particularly concerned by reports of the personal stress being experienced by some principals.
I want to reassure your members that I am firmly committed to implementing changes in a measured, realistic manner, and continuing to keep an open dialogue with school leaders and their representatives.
Literacy and Numeracy
I firmly believe that any attempts to transform the post-primary sector must begin with a renewed focus on literacy and numeracy.
We all know that the ability to read and write, and to understand language and numbers, are fundamental to a person’s life chances.
In July 2011, I published the National Literacy and Numeracy strategy, and implementation to date – with your active support - has been encouraging.
In 2013, we will spend an additional €6.5 million on continuing to implement in full the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
Fully implementing the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy will be central to achieving our ambition to rank among the best performing countries in the world – an ambition already being achieved by our colleagues in Northern Ireland.
But education is about far more than assessment and testing, important as they are.
At the end of the day, these must be subservient to ensuring that the curriculum is being creatively learned by our students.
Junior Cycle reform
Overhauling our current Junior Cycle will build upon the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
The Framework published last October sets out Principles, Statements of Learning and Key Skills.
It will create interested, independent learners who will be better prepared to meet the challenges of life beyond school.
The draft English specification has now been published by the NCCA, and we look forward to the outcomes of the resulting consultation.
I believe these reforms will enable the educational system to deliver a junior cycle that places the needs of students at the core of quality learning and teaching.
We are fortunate that over 90% of our young people stay on to Senior cycle and complete the Leaving Certificate.
Thankfully, it is no longer true that the Junior Certificate is a high stakes exam.
Just as we reached a point in 1967, where there was no longer a need for a state examined Primary Certificate, I believe we have now reached that point in relation to the Junior Certificate.
The abolition of the Primary Certificate was a liberation moment for primary schools.
It lifted the dead hand of a narrow external assessment, and paved the way for the introduction of a child-centred curriculum for pupils.
Why should the transformation of Junior Cycle be any different?
That is why I passionately believe that the new curriculum, carefully introduced over eight years, will transform our secondary education system for the benefit of all involved – students, teachers and parents.
I believe these changes will help establish a love of learning in all of our young people, particularly in those middle years which have been captured by the Junior Certificate examinations.
School Self-Evaluations
School self evaluation, or SSE, is also a key tool to support both Junior Cycle Reform and the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy.
We have known for some time, that in Ireland we need to embed regular, meaningful and effective self-evaluation processes in our schools.
Complemented by external inspections, the introduction of SSE will improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in our schools.
And it will increase both the autonomy and accountability of our principals, teachers and boards of management.
SSE will require an openness to asking challenging questions about practice and standards.
It will ensure that evidence is put at the heart of decisions, and that appropriate planning for school improvement exists.
SSE will also introduce a higher level of transparency for the school community.
The education community has just embarked on this school self-evaluation journey.
No doubt we will continue to learn together as the process is embedded in the life of our schools.
Working through these reforms
So how do these initiatives work together?
The implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy has, as I mentioned earlier, already begun.
The implementation of School Self-Evaluations has been underway since the beginning of this school year, and I know that very good practices are already being established in many schools.
And the reform of the Junior Cycle will begin in September 2014 with the revised English specifications, along with the introduction of short courses – an option for schools to consider.
What I want to stress to you today is that these are not three different initiatives but that they are closely interlinked.
I want to thank you for the broad support I have received for these measures from your members, while also acknowledging your concerns about the resourcing of the changes.
Put simply, Junior Cycle reform is about a complete overhaul of the learning experiences and assessment arrangements for students in lower secondary education.
Literacy in English and Irish, and literacy across each subject, are priorities in that reform and are embedded in each new subject specification.
For a school, reviewing current practice in how these skills are developed in a self-evaluation process will be an essential first step in preparing for Junior Cycle implementation.
So, reviewing literacy and numeracy in School Self-Evaluation will fulfil the requirements for both School Self-Evaluation and the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, and will prepare your school for implementing Junior Cycle reform.
Your school improvement plans will chart the improvements in literacy, numeracy and junior cycle subjects.
We have been working internally recently to chart out, month-by-month, the full sequencing of the CPD and subject implementation required to realistically implement all three initiatives.
I have repeatedly committed to working with all of the education partners, and consulting with partners on how these improvements to our schools can best be introduced.
In that context, I want to pay tribute to the JMB for taking up the offer of a bilateral meeting with Department officials to discuss this implementation.
I know that you will be meeting the Chief Inspector and Dr. Alan Wall later this month and I look forward to an update on the outcomes of that meeting.
This meeting will build upon the ongoing work of the the Education Stakeholders Group that is meeting every 4 to 6 weeks to discuss implementation issues as they relate to the Junior Cycle.
I also understand the JMB is holding an Education Conference in
September, specifically focussed on the revised junior cycle and the introduction of school self-evaluations.
I hope that such events, supported by the information meetings which have been arranged by the Inspectorate, will provide a meaningful support to schools in implementing these changes.
Transitions
Any review of the journey of our young people through post-primary education, would be incomplete without addressing the impact of the CAO points system on their education.
In March, we published a paper which sets out the key directions and next steps planned in easing the pressure on our Leaving Cert students.
Agreement has been reached between the main education agencies on three key points:
1. A commitment to address any problematic predictability identified in the Leaving Certificate examination;
2. A commitment to reduce the number of grading bands used in the Leaving Certificate examination;
3. A commitment to significantly reduce the very high number of level 8 programmes in universities.
The institutes of technology have also agreed to review their level 8 programme provision, in the context of achieving the objectives of this ongoing reform process.
I am delighted to announce that a further Conference will take place on this matter in June this year in NUI Maynooth.
This will provide an opportunity for education partners and practitioners to come together, and ensure that we put sufficient changes in place to genuinely ease the pressures faced by our Leaving Cert students.
Other areas of reform
The Action Plan on Bullying, the revised guidelines on mental health and wellbeing in schools, and of course any extension of the Croke Park Agreement are other areas that I know are of interest to your members.
I am conscious that there are other initiatives which also impact upon the post-primary sector, and I hope we will have the opportunity to discuss these during the Question and Answer session.
In particular, I have heard regularly of concerns of an administrative overload on our school leaders, and I am determined to try to address those concerns.
I would be delighted to hear specific examples of how the administrative detail required by the Department or agencies could be streamlined, or suggestions on how the administrative burden on our school leaders can be reduced.
The future of faith schools?
But before I conclude, there is a further area that I would like to touch upon – an area that I hope a meaningful dialogue can be developed in over the coming years.
Since my appointment as Minister for Education and Skills, we have made progress towards ensuring a diversity of patronage at primary level.
This issue is clearly not as stark at second level, where a greater choice of patrons already exists.
But from the perspective of the denominations, the arrangements of patronage at second-level are much more complicated.
There are, for example, difficulties posed for faith schools in lacking a common patronage voice – a role played largely by the Bishops at primary level.
An interesting dialogue has begun within the Association of Trustees for Catholic Schools, and between that Association and the Department.
Issues such as the lack of a common voice for patronage of Catholic secondary schools have emerged as part of this dialogue.
I genuinely believe in a diversity of patronage at all levels of education.
To support such diversity, I am pleased to announce that we will ensure that start-up grants of €20,000 will be made available to the two new denominational post-primary schools to be established in 2013 and 2014 – the first denominational post-primary schools to open in a generation.
But that diversity can only be strengthened when each of the models of patronage can engage with the state in a coherent manner.
Looking to the future, I believe we need to explore what models will best serve our collective needs.
Ireland has evolved over many decades, a public/private partnership in the delivery of education at secondary level.
It has served this country well.
However, the changes which have evolved on the private or voluntary side, have altered the landscape of the partnership at post-primary level.
I want to assure all present that what I want to see, is a transparent and effective form of dialogue and decision making which will serve all of our interests.
I hope the conversations which have begun can be widened, and can more fully inform the future of faith schools in Ireland.
Conclusion
My role here today was not to provide a lengthy address, or to provide updates or detail on every aspect of post-primary education.
Rather, these remarks are intended to provide some context for a discussion with your members on these, and other areas, which are of concern to boards of management and school leaders.
I look forward to that discussion.
Thank you.