Despite its achievements, Ireland’s education system, combining 20th-century technology with a largely 19th-century framework, requires a significant update to suit 21st-century requirements. The current environment does not foster the prerequisites for forward-thinking screenagers, who are often passively educated at the same pace as their peers, regardless of their individual abilities. Particularly in the lead up to national examinations, classrooms can assume a rigid, militaristic quality, with prime focus on rehearsing perfect responses to potential questions, all derived from defined marking schemes. This system breeds stress among students, limits teachers’ options and hampers creativity.
Despite its drawbacks, the Irish schooling system garners international appreciation. According to the latest OECD standings, Irish students aged 15-years are close to the top in reading literacy and perform above average in both mathematics and science. The teaching profession retains its appeal, and the Leaving Cert, in spite of severe criticism, continues to enjoy considerable public faith.
However, a closer look at the statistics reveals disconcerting discoveries. Merely 10% of teenagers possess reliable skills to discern between fact and opinion, a critical capability in today’s world swamped with online misinformation. The number of high-performing students is significantly less than those in leading educational countries. The needs of many children requiring additional support are often ignored, resulting in their exclusion from the system.
Meanwhile, competitor nations continue to surge ahead. Over the past ten years, Estonian students – currently topping the OECD EU educational ranking – have been receiving education in programming and robotics from the tender age of seven and utilising virtual reality headsets to create highly interactive learning environments. They integrated artificial intelligence (AI) lessons into their curriculum last year.
Leading the world rankings, Singapore centralises creativity in its education policy, while Korea, another impressing performer, is augmenting the digital transition of learning.
The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the advent of AI technologies offers Ireland a critical moment to reassess and reimagine its modern educational setup. Government-led proposals to convene a citizens’ assembly to deliberate on the future of education are currently uncertain, primarily due to the outcomes of recent referendums and a change in leadership. The upcoming teaching unions’ annual conferences, scheduled to commence next week, are likely to concentrate more on remuneration and work conditions.
The general consensus emphatically highlights the necessity to transition away from pure memorisation and towards cultivating enhanced analytical skills in education. This perspective is held by Luke O’Neil, a biochemistry professor from Trinity College Dublin, who shows his disappointment in the continued focus of memory-based examinations in the Leaving Certificate. He underlines the importance of not only storing knowledge but comprehending the enormous volume of data and information available in the present day. O’Neil underscores the critical need for education to develop life skills progressively, including the ability to find and decipher widely available online information.
The professor further emphasises the paramount importance of customising education to fulfil each student’s unique requirements instead of adopting a uniform educational method.
Likewise, OECD secretary-general, Mathias Comann, states that the digital evolution in education has immense potential to significantly enhance teaching and learning experiences for every student. He mentions how the Covid-19 pandemic played a positive role in advancing digital education, but also insists on the need to utilise the appropriate tools and systems to personalise learning for students. Comann also suggests creating early detection systems to identify students likely to drop out of school.
Academic and best-selling author Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, however, points out an overlooked aspect: while the current educational system serves the majority well, it neglects and leaves vulnerable children behind.
Pointing out we rank well in numeracy and literacy, she reveals that hidden behind this accomplishment is the 10-15% of students who are left lagging in school. She brings attention to students who flounder, who leave feeling inadequate since they could not secure the required points for college.
Dr O’Sullivan insists on a drastic rethink in education, saying it should prioritise care over curriculum to assure every child leaves school with a sense of self-worth. In her view, this would involve abandoning the CAO points race, which she describes as a crude measure of potential affecting all children.
“I propose a relative grading system, and a closer look at college entrance and access,” she concludes.
Paul Crone, the head of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, a body representing school leaders at the secondary level, concurs that the Central Applications Office (CAO) is the principal obstacle to innovative and creative approaches in post-primary classrooms. He asserts that the three-digit numbering system restricts educational advancements and allows schools to focus merely on rote learning for exams. This, he believes, impedes reform in the latter stages of education.
Many prominent cultural figures argue over the relegation of creative subjects like drama, music, art, and design in favour of traditional academic disciplines when the scramble for points begins in secondary education. However, they argue it doesn’t have to be this way.
Author Joe O’Connor firmly believes that an educational system failing to place creativity at its core offers neither an adequate preparation for life nor for a career. He suggests that creativity enhances self-assuredness, articulation, project management skills, and problem-solving proficiency. It facilitates clear and engaging communication of complex concepts while fostering empathy – an element he considers vital for a genuine sense of community. For O’Connor, it is more than just an education approach, it’s about rights and the ability to express personal narratives.
In a similar vein, serial entrepreneur Bobby Healy recognises the importance of creative approaches. Over the last 30 years, Healy has established multiple businesses in areas such as computer game development, travel technology, and most recently, drone delivery in Ireland. Despite this, during a recent talk at a Dublin secondary school about entrepreneurship and technology, not a single student claimed to be part of a computer or coding club, as the school didn’t have one.
““I was taken aback by this,” he admits. “It seems many secondary schools are in a continuous loop. This is an era where young lads and lasses have an innate desire to explore; it is our duty to channel this by allowing them the freedom to undertake projects which passionately engage them. They should be immersed in surroundings where exploration and trial and error methods are rewarded.”
Entrepreneur Jerry Kennelly feels that youngsters too frequently meander aimlessly through the education system. This feeling buttressed his decision to co-establish the Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP), aimed specifically at primary school pupils in fifth and sixth classes. He thinks the mentality this programme nurtures should be key in the contemporary classroom environment.
“It discloses hidden potentials in the classroom. Kids recognize their personal abilities and undertake roles such as market research and sales with great enthusiasm, boosting their confidence,” he claims.
“Addressing tangible world problems where their personal stakes in a classroom business propels their minds towards teamwork. Irrespective of the future shape of AI and other technologies, critical thought and innovation are essential skills that project-focused constructive initiatives like JEP amplify.
‘Reconnecting with the environment’
When dealing with a world facing environmental challenges needing sustainable solutions, it’s crucial to promote the necessary skills and attitudes for altering our way of life.
Author and nature lover, Dara McAnulty believes there’s significant room to better integrate these matters into the core of the curriculum at all education levels. “If more young ones received an education where our world’s functionalities were the core topic, they would feel a stronger connection to their singular home,” he maintains.
“If, years back, we had instilled and nurtured a sense of duty and concern for Earth, I believe the issues we’re currently facing may have been circumvented,” he adds.
‘Unified educational framework’
Although geographically close, the North and South’s education systems differ considerably, creating significant obstacles for student mobility. Students from the North, for instance, only comprise 0.6 per cent of the total third-level student population in the State. There’s also limited collaboration at the primary and secondary levels due to the varying systems.
Such barriers hold significance, especially if we’re earnest about strengthening our networks and ensuring youngsters have access to the finest educational prospects.
John Boyle, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation’s general secretary, recommends a thorough approach to envisioning what education may appear like on a “genuinely unified island”. He recently took part in the formation of a teachers’ union forum covering the entire island that delves into a variety of subjects, including increased mobility for educators.
The diversity within classrooms has grown significantly, necessitating a variety of therapeutic interventions that modify the traditional expectations of educational institutions. Adam Harris, the head of the autism charity AsIAm, believes that future educational systems should entitle autistic children to have equal access to their constitutional rights, not more, not less. “A child-centred system refrains from compelling some children to adapt to it,” he asserts. “A system that doesn’t exclude children by asking them to migrate from their neighbourhoods, apply to innumerable schools, or even stay at home because of their different thought processes. A system that is not just sufficiently resourced to succeed for everyone, but also carefully constructed, directed, and overseen to promote an environment that values and includes all types of neurological conditions”.
Primary schools continue to be largely controlled by religious institutions in a country where only 40 per cent of marriages are Catholic, a number that is steadily declining. Educate Together’s CEO, Emer Nowlan, emphasises that schools must mirror the communities they cater to. “The evolutionary pace of our educational system has been distressingly leisurely – not only regarding religious dominance over schools but also in yielding to a more comprehensive system. Though the demand for change is escalating, only a limited number of schools have managed to alter their patronage”, she states.
She insists on the need for more adaptable and democratic constructs to make certain the voices of parents and pupils are acknowledged. This is not only in the context of school patronage but also to establish a more equal, up-to-date, and comprehensive schooling system. “Ireland has seen a significant transformation – in population density and people’s perception towards the influence of religion in communal spaces. Ordinary inhabitants have stimulated societal reform, making Ireland a significantly improved and more compassionate nation. Our schools should reflect this progression.”
In anticipation of a world driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI), technology and education specialists visualise immense prospective from AI in enhancing learning results, by customising teaching, tracking progress, and providing specific guidance.
Education advocate Catherine Byrne, who is one of the key initiators behind a proposition to convene a citizen’s assembly focusing on the path forward for education, holds out hope that a platform can still be created for a constructive discussion about the evolution of education in a non-threatening environment. If given the green light, she believes that the assembly could present diverse views on how education establishments are dealing with critical issues such as mental health, wellbeing, and readiness for an AI-centric future. Furthermore, she thinks it could put the spotlight on best practices and guide us towards the development of more inclusive schools where the primary emphasis is on nurturing and educating students, rather than pushing them towards exams or overburdening them with paperwork.