Rose Conway-Walsh on guidance counsellors, computer science and broadband
Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh questioned officials about shortages of guidance counsellors, the rollout of computer science in second-level schools, and engagement on the national broadband plan, arguing more counsellors and greater urgency on reform are needed. She pressed for specific numbers on how many additional guidance counsellors are required, how many schools offer computer science and where, and what communications exist with those delivering the national broadband plan.
Guidance counsellor numbers and workload
The Deputy highlighted that while there are currently 900 guidance counsellors, this is insufficient given school sizes and the demands on a single counsellor. Officials said posts lost during the leaner years have been fully restored, but any further increases would depend on budgetary decisions and priorities.
Computer Science rollout in second-level schools
The Deputy asked how many second-level schools offer computer science and where they are located to avoid unequal access. Officials did not have specific numbers on the call; they said the subject was introduced to phase one schools in 2018 with the first examination in 2020 and has been available for national rollout since. The Department and teacher support services provide extensive CPD for teachers and will supply exact school-level figures after consulting the State Examinations Commission.
National Broadband Plan engagement and access gaps
The Deputy sought details on formal communications between the Department and those delivering the national broadband plan, the frequency of meetings, and how many households and students still lack infrastructure. Officials present on the call said they would take the questions away and provide information through colleagues, noting no one on the meeting was directly involved in NBP delivery at that moment.
Urgency for reform of the Leaving Certificate and senior cycle
The Deputy argued that COVID-19 has concentrated minds on the need for reform of the Leaving Certificate and the broader senior cycle, pointing out that systems relying more on continuous assessment were better able to pivot during the pandemic. Officials acknowledged positives from the last two years - teachers stepping up, public service commitment, collaboration and the voice of students - but said the crisis exposed resilience issues tied to heavy reliance on terminal exams.
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Thank you, Chair. Just a number of short questions arising from the discussion. I think in terms of the guidance counsellors, and I know you mentioned that there will be a strategy there and that there are 900 guidance counsellors there already, but it is quite obvious that that is insufficient and that we need more boots on the ground in relation to, particularly in exploring options for students around further and higher education, and that has to match up with the apprenticeship opportunities that hopefully will be provided. So my question around that, I suppose, is how many extra guidance counsellors would you see in place in the next couple of years? Because I know you'll agree that it's impossible for one guidance counsellor to spread themselves so thinly around a school of a couple of hundred students to be able to give the type of guidance that's necessary. I want to ask you as it was mentioned that computer science, it was mentioned that computer science was now available within the schools. Have you a measure of exactly how many second level schools computer science is available in and where those schools are so that we're not creating again an unequal level playing field for those who want to? I know we all agree that digital digitisation and digital technologies are the way forward. So we need the skills there and we need the opportunities for students there as well. So how many schools and where are they? In terms of the broadband plan, what formal communications do the department have with those who are delivering the national broadband plan? And how often are those meetings, meetings and engagements? How again do you access? How many households, how many students are without the actual broadband infrastructure to be able to connect? And just around the urgency of the implementation, obviously with COVID, it has concentrated the minds. Do you think that a greater urgency for reform is now there than we had maybe heretofore? Thank you. Thanks. Thanks for those further questions, Deputy. I am going to invite one or two colleagues to maybe come in and add what I am going to say. On guidance, obviously we have sought to restore all the various posts there that were lost over the leaner years. They are fully restored at this point, but obviously in terms of further and beyond what we currently have, that's something that we have to consider in the context of any kind of budgetary discussions and priorities. On the computer science, Eamon may have some statistics for you on that, but if they're not readily available here and now, we can send those to you. So we do have that information. And I suppose one of the things we've got to be keen to say about that is that the more than that is that the PE and other news subjects, we are keen to encourage schools to take these up and make them as broadly available as they can be for students so that they are accessible. On the broadband plan, I think what we do there is I take that one away and provide you with some information, if that's okay, through other colleagues here, because I don't believe anybody who is on the call here directly involved at the moment. And then finally then on the implementation, I would agree with you. I think that there has probably been for quite some time a strong sense of a need for reform and it has been talked about in the public domain for quite some time around. I suppose leaving certificate experience, perhaps more than just the senior cycle, more generally, but I would certainly concur if the view is that this has concentrated the mind. I think it certainly has something that has been there. Perhaps both being around for a while has certainly reached a view that we do need to look very closely at it. And I suppose one thing you could say about our system compared to some systems in other jurisdictions is that there were certainly a lot of positives that have come out of the last couple of years in terms of the willingness of teachers to step up to the plate, the public service commitment, the collaboration to do things that were very untested before, and certainly the voice of students as well. But certainly one thing it did expose, I suppose, is the level of resilience that's in our system. Other countries that relied more heavily on continuous assessment, project work, school-based assessment and so on, were better placed to pivot and COVID-ish than Ireland was, because we rely very much on an external assessment and a terminal exam. So, maybe if there are any more statistics that we can get on the computer science subject. Okay, thank you very much. Senator Paulman, all righty. He was going to. Okay, okay, sorry. Did someone else? Yeah. Okay. Chair, thanks very much. Eamon Moran here. I'm just picking up on the Deputy's question about leaving, Sir, Computer Science. Deputy, we don't have specific numbers on the current number of schools. who are offering computer science, but my colleagues in the State Exams Commission will provide that to us, and we can send it on to you. You know that the subject was introduced to a number of phase one schools in 2018 for the examination to be sat for the first time in 2020. And it's since been available for rollout nationally. We work very closely with schools proposing to offer the subject, given that it's a brand new subject. And our teacher support services, the professional development services for teachers, provides extensive CPD to the teachers in those schools to ensure the effective rollout of the subject. Fair amount of excitement in it as well. One of the subjects out there that's partly done on computer. So certainly the schools that have been involved in it have responded to us very favourably in relation to the new specification. But on the specifics, Deputy, we'll come back to you with the numbers. Thank you. Thank you.
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