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I It is my great pleasure to provide a
foreword to this edition of Bell Time
magazine. BellTime Magazine is an
innovative bi-annual magazine for the
second level sector providing a plethora
of interesting articles that will appeal to
both students and staff alike. I trust that
you will enjoy browsing this edition.
As Minister for Education & Skills, I
have set the ambitious target for our
Education system to be the best in
Europe by 2026. In February of this
year, I published the Action Plan for
Education 2017. This was the first
report in what is now an annual
process. Each year we will set out a list
of concrete actions with strict timelines
and each year we will report back on
our progress on these actions.
One of these headline actions was to
develop an Action Plan for Educational
Disadvantage, which was published
earlier this year. The Plan identifies
more than 100 actions in support of
tackling educational disadvantage,
which is a key priority of mine as
Minister. Education has a transformative
effect and is unique in its ability to break
down cycles of disadvantage, allowing
everyone to fulfill their full potential.
continued to play a key role in helping
children to participate and progress.
These extra posts will ensure that every
child that needs access to the support
they need.
We also launched a plan (the Digital
Strategy for Schools 2015-2020) earlier
this year which sets out how we intend
to maximise the potential of digital
technology in the classroom. A key
element of the plan will see ICT
(Information and Communication
Technology) embedded in all emerging
curricular specifications. Intense
preparation is underway for the phased
introduction of Computer Science as a
Leaving Certificate subject option from
2018 and coding as part of the primary
school maths curriculum. This year I
have provided €30m in ICT grants to
schools, and in the next four years we
will invest a further €180m to upgrade
the ICT facilities in our schools.
The Action Plan for Education aims to
deliver 50,000 apprenticeship and
traineeship registrations by 2020. The
uptake of apprenticeships and
traineeships fell by over 80% during the
recession but I believe that by
rebuilding the traditional pathways and
by creating new apprenticeships and
I want to ensure that children with
traineeships in areas that haven’t
special educational needs maximise
previously existed that we can reach
their potential in the classroom, which
this target. Apprenticeships and
is why I announced the provision of 975 traineeships are very exciting options
extra Special Needs Assistants by the
for many young people. Industrial
end of 2017, a 7.5% increase, in order leaders in many sectors place a very
to meet the assessed level of demand. high value on a trained apprentice or
This is in addition to the 900 number of trainee, with many moving into
Resource Teachers we are providing
managerial positons.
this year. These supports have
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I will also be shortly launching the
Foreign Languages Strategy, a key
commitment in the Action Plan for
Education. This strategy will be
particularly timely in the context of Brexit.
There will be a number of new initiatives
in this plan such as additional foreign
languages being made available at
Junior Cycle, the introduction of
Mandarin Chinese as a Leaving
Certificate Subject and new models of
delivering language teaching, such as
shared classes and blended learning.
Education is central to all our ambitions
as a nation. It is central to our economic,
scientific, cultural and social ambitions.
Education supports the development of
a strong growing economy while
sustaining a fair and compassionate
society. The central aim of our Action
Plan for Education is to provide the best
education and training system in Europe
over the next decade and I am confident
that we are firmly on the path to
achieving that goal.
Richard Bruton TD
Minister for Education and Skills