Education Ireland/Chile
The Irish education
system is made up of:
system is made up of:
Early childhood
Primary Education
Post Primary
Further Education and Training
Educational Provision for students with special educational needs
with special educational needs
Provision for disadvantaged students.
State-funded education is available at all levels, unless you choose to send your child to a private institution.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
The compulsory school age in Ireland is 6 and all forms of pre-primary education are optional. However, children from the age of 4 can be enrolled in infant classes in primary schools. Nearly 40% of 4-year-olds and virtually all 5-year-olds attend primary school, where early education is provided in infant classes.
are optional. However, children from the age of 4 can be enrolled in infant classes in primary schools. Nearly 40% of 4-year-olds and virtually all 5-year-olds attend primary school, where early education is provided in infant classes.
In addition to the provision for children in the infant classes in primary schools, the Department of Education and Skills funds some specific pre-primary services. These include:
of Education and Skills funds some specific pre-primary services. These include:
The Early Start Programme, a pre-primary initiative in designated areas of urban disadvantage, for children who are most at risk of not succeeding in education. The total number of spaces provided by the existing 40 Early Start centres is 1,650. List of Early Start Units.
The Rutland Street Project, a programme in a Dublin inner city community. Although not part of Early Start, it was used to pilot many of the approaches later incorporated in the Early Start project.
With the exception of the above, early childhood education and care services in Ireland are delivered outside the formal education system, by a diverse range of private, community and voluntary interests and are described variously as crèches, nurseries, pre-schools, naíonraí (Irish language pre-schools), playgroups and daycare services. Government investment in such provision is primarily implemented by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs D/YCA.
education and care services in Ireland are delivered outside the formal education system, by a diverse range of private, community and voluntary interests and are described variously as crèches, nurseries, pre-schools, naíonraí (Irish language pre-schools), playgroups and daycare services. Government investment in such provision is primarily implemented by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs D/YCA.
The Department of Education and Skills has a key role in supporting quality within the sector and works closely with the D/CYA. Working with agencies funded by the D/CYA, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) produced an Aistear-in-Action toolkit which is a resource for use in early years settings showing how the Aistear themes of Wellbeing, Identity and Belonging, Exploring and Thinking and Communication translate into practice. The Department has also directed the implementation of Síolta, the National Quality Framework, by working with these agencies. The final report on the implementation of this phase of Síolta was published in December 2013.
The free Pre-School Year scheme was introduced in January 2010 and is being administered by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Under the scheme, all children aged between 3 years 2 months and 4 years 7 months in September of the relevant year are entitled to a free pre-school year of appropriate programme-based activities in the year prior to starting primary school. While participation is voluntary, 67,000 or 94% of eligible children are enrolled in pre-school services for the 2011/12 school year. Further information about the free Pre-School Year scheme is available from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs website.
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https://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=120
PRIMARY EDUCATION
The primary education sector includes state-funded primary schools, special schools and private primary schools. The state-funded schools include religious schools, non-denominational schools, multi-denominational schools and Gaelscoileanna (Irish-medium schools). For historical reasons, most primary schools are state-aided parish schools, although this pattern is changing. The state pays the bulk of the building and running costs of state-funded primary schools, but a local contribution is made towards their running costs. Teachers’ salaries are paid by the Department of Education and Skills, and the schools are inspected by the Department’s Inspectorate.
Although children are not obliged to attend school until the age of six, almost all children begin school in the September following their fourth birthday. Nearly 40% of four-year-olds and almost all five-year-olds are enrolled in infant classes in primary schools (sometimes called national schools). Primary education consists of an eight year cycle: junior infants, senior infants, and first to sixth classes. Pupils normally transfer to post-primary education at the age of twelve.
The general aims of primary education are:
- To enable the child to live a full life as a child and to realise his or her potential as a unique individual
- To enable the child to develop as a social being through living and co-operating with others and so contribute to the good of society
- To prepare the child for a continuum of learning.
The primary curriculum aims to provide a broad learning experience and encourages a rich variety of approaches to teaching and learning that cater for the different needs of individual children. The revised primary curriculum, launched in 1999, was the first complete revision of the curriculum since 1971. The revised curriculum is designed to nurture the child in all dimensions of his or her life—spiritual, moral, cognitive, emotional, imaginative, aesthetic, social and physical.
The curriculum is divided into the following key areas:
- Language – Irish and English
- Mathematics
- Social, Environment and Scientific Education
- Arts Education, including Visual Arts, Music and Drama
- Physical Education
- Social, Personal and Health Education.
POST PRIMARY EDUCATION
The post-primary education sector comprises secondary, vocational, community and comprehensive schools. Secondary schools are privately owned and managed. Vocational schools are state-established and administered by Education and Training Boards (ETBs), while community and comprehensive schools are managed by Boards of Management of differing compositions.
Post-primary education consists of a three-year Junior Cycle (lower secondary), followed by a two or three year Senior Cycle (upper secondary), depending on whether the optional Transition Year (TY) is taken.
Students usually begin the Junior Cycle at age 12. The Junior Certificate examination is taken after three years. The main objective of the Junior Cycle is for students to complete a broad and balanced curriculum, and to develop the knowledge and skills that will enable them to proceed to Senior Cycle education. A new Framework for Junior Cycle1 is going to make significant changes to the current Junior Cycle beginning in September 2014.
- https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Information/Curriculum-and-Syllabus/A-Framework-for-Junior-Cycle.html
The Senior Cycle caters for students in the 15 to 18 year age group. It includes an optional Transition Year, which follows immediately after the Junior Cycle. TY provides an opportunity for students to experience a wide range of educational inputs, including work experience, over the course of a year that is free from formal examinations.
During the final two years of Senior Cycle students take one of three programmes, each leading to a State Examination: the traditional Leaving Certificate, the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) or the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA).
The Leaving Certificate
The traditional Leaving Certificate examination is the terminal examination of post-primary education and is taken when students are typically 17 or 18 years of age. Syllabuses are available in more than 30 subjects and students are required to take at least five subjects, one of which must be Irish.
The Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme
The Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) Programme is a self-contained two-year course, intended to meet the needs of those students who are not adequately catered for by other Leaving Certificate programmes. It is a person-centred course involving a cross-curricular approach rather than a subject based structure.
FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Further Education covers education and training which occurs after second level schooling but which is not part of the third level system. There are number of providers of Further and Adult Education and Training and a wide variety of schools, organisations and institutions, are involved in the delivery of continuing education and training for young school leavers and adults.
Organisational Restructuring
- The Education and Training Boards Act 2013 was passed in May 2013. The Act provides for the dissolution of Vocational Education Committees (VECs) and for the establishment of the 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) through a process involving the merger of some of the 33 existing VECs.
- The Further Education and Training Act 2013 was signed into law in July 2013. The Act provides for the establishment of SOLAS and the dissolution of FÁS. The legislation also provides for the gradual transfer of FÁS training centres and training staff to the newly formed Education and Training Boards.
Establishment of ETBs
- Arising from the commencement of the Education and Training Boards Act, the 16 ETBs were established on 1st July 2013.
- The Further Education and Training Act 2013 was signed into law in July 2013. The Act provides for the establishment of SOLAS and the dissolution of FÁS. The legislation also provides for the gradual transfer of FÁS training centres and training staff to the newly formed Education and Training Boards.
Establishment of SOLAS
SOLAS was established on 27 October 2013, bringing about the dissolution of FÁS. SOLAS will work with the ETBs to support the development of appropriate further education and training programmes and curricula and the sourcing of further education and training interventions from the private, public and not for profit sector.
Adult Education and Training
Adult Education is set out in Learning for Life - White Paper on Adult Education, published in 2000. A range of education and training is provided by various organisations aimed at upskilling and reskilling people who are unemployed. Providing skills for work is a priority.
- https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/fe_aduled_wp.pdf
National Framework of Qualifications
Certification in the Further and Higher Education and Training Sector is usually in alignment with the National Framework of Qualifications – an awards framework of 10 levels which is aligned to the European Framework of Qualifications. Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) quality assures institutions of further and higher education and training, validates educational programmes and makes awards to learners. ( https://www.qqi.ie/ )
Institutions Providing Adult Education and Training
The main provider of further and adult education and training are the Education and Training Boards (ETBs).
https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Bodies-and-Committees/Education-and-Training-Boards-ETBs-.html
Full-Time Programmes in Further Education
- Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) Courses
- Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)
- Youthreach
Part-Time Programmes in Further Education
- Back To Education Initiative (BTEI)
- Adult Literacy
- Community Education
HIGHER EDUCATION
Higher Education in Ireland is provided mainly by 7 Universities, 14 Institutes of Technology, including the Dublin Institute of Technology and 7 Colleges of Education. In addition, a number of other third level institutions provide specialist education in such fields as art and design, medicine, business studies, rural development, theology, music and law. Click here for a full list of these institutions.
Applications for entry to undergraduate courses in universities, colleges of education, institutes of technology and some other institutes of higher education, are processed by the Central Applications Office (CAO). The aim of the system is to process applications centrally and to deal with them in an efficient and fair manner. The participating institutions retain the function of making decisions on admissions.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is the statutory planning and development body for higher education and research in Ireland. The HEA has wide advisory powers throughout the whole of the third-level education sector. In addition it is the funding authority for the universities, institutes of technology and other designated higher education institutions.
The Universities Act, 1997 sets out the objects and functions of a university, the structure and role of governing bodies, staffing arrangements, composition and role of academic councils and sections relating to property, finance and reporting. The governing authorities are required to see that strategic development plans are in place, and that procedures for evaluating teaching and research are in place. The HEA has an overseeing role on such plans and quality assurance procedures. The legislative framework preserves the academic freedom of the universities and respects the diverse traditions and institutional autonomy of each university.
The Institutes of Technology Act, 2006, creates a similar relationship between the institutes and the HEA as that between the HEA and the universities. It provides for greater institutional autonomy, improved governance and a statutory guarantee of academic freedom for the Institutes of Technology.
The National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, which was launched in 2011, will see the transformation of Ireland’s higher education sector over the next two decades. Endorsed by Government as the future blueprint for the sector, the Strategy sets out changes for the sector that are aimed at providing for:
- a more flexible system, with a greater choice of provision and modes of learning for an increasingly diverse cohort of students;
- improvements in the quality of the student experience, the quality of teaching and learning and the relevance of learning outcomes; and
- ensuring that higher education connects more effectively with wider social, economic and enterprise needs through its staff, the quality of its graduates, the relevance of its programmes, the quality of its research and its ability to translate that into high value jobs and real benefits for society.
https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/National-Strategy-for-Higher-Education-2030-Implementation-Plan.pdf
https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/National-Strategy-for-Higher-Education-2030-Progress-Report-Q4-2012.pdf
A new system performance framework is being put in place by the HEA based on key system objectives and indicators noted by Government. In the next stage of implementation of the framework the HEA will enter into a set of individual institutional performance compacts with higher education institutions which will reflect each institution’s contribution as part of a new higher education system designed to respond to the needs of Ireland’s economy and wider society in the coming years. A key element in the overall approach will be the implementation of performance funding in the sector.
The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) advises the Government on current and future skills needs and on other labour market issues that impact on Ireland's enterprise and employment growth. The Group brings together industry, academia and State agencies in identifying the overall skills requirements in the economy. Copies of EGFSN reports are issued to individual education and training providers and they provide a valuable input to the development and amendment of course curricula. EGFSN reports are also published on their website at www.skillsireland.ie
SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION
Provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs
The Department of Education and Skills (DES) provides for the education of children with special education needs through a number of support mechanisms depending on the child’s assessed disability.
Section 2 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 requires that:
“A child with special educational needs shall be educated in an inclusive environment with children who do not have such needs unless the nature or degree of those needs of the child is such that to do so would be inconsistent with:
- The best interests of the child as determined in accordance with any assessment carried out under this Act
- The effective provision of education for children with whom the child is to be educated.”
In general, educational provision for children with special needs is made:
In special schools;
In special classes attached to ordinary schools;
In integrated settings in mainstream classes.
The nature and level of the educational response is based on the child’s professionally-assessed disability. The Department’s policy is to achieve as much integration as possible, as envisaged in Section 2 of the EPSEN Act. Where placement in an integrated setting is considered to be the appropriate response, provision will normally take the form of resource teaching or special needs assistant support, or both, depending on the pupil’s assessed level of need.
Children with more severe levels of disability may require placement in a special school or special class attached to a mainstream primary school. Each such facility is dedicated to a particular disability group and each operates at a specially reduced pupil teacher ratio. Pupils attending these facilities attract special rates of capitation funding and are entitled to avail of the special school transport service and the school bus escort service.
PROVISION FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS
Social Inclusion Unit
Social Inclusion Unit is responsible for developing and promoting a co-ordinated Department response to tackling educational disadvantage from pre-school through to second-level education (3 to 18 years).
Summarized in video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibT_NsFY4X4