IRELAND S NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY 2025

Transcription

1 IRELAND S NATIONAL SKILLS STRATEGY

2 improvig lives a better place to live ad to work Irelad s F u t u r e drivig sustaiable ecoomic growth 2 3

3 PAGE06 FOREWORD PAGE09 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PAGE13 INTRODUCTION PAGE18 PAGE20 PAGE39 IRELAND AT A GLANCE CHANGING WORLD, CHANGING SKILLS IRELAND S PRESENT AND POTENTIAL LABOUR MARKET CONTENTS PAGE46 PAGE67 PAGE109 EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN IRELAND OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS IMPLEMENTATION AND MEASURING SUCCESS 4 5

4 FOREWORD Icreasigly Irelad is competig globally o the basis of talet ad o Irelad s growig reputatio for iovatio. Wiig the war for talet ca be achieved by esurig that all of Irelad s citizes have access to the skills they eed to succeed i life; ad Irish busiess has the people with the skills they eed to grow. This is also critical to securig our recovery ad esurig Irelad s people share i that recovery. This Govermet has focused o ecoomic recovery ad job creatio. Firstly by stabilisig the public fiaces to create the coditios for ecoomic stability ad retur to growth, ad the by drivig job creatio through the Actio Pla for Jobs process. That strategy ad the hard work ad sacrifices of the Irish people have delivered a astoishig recovery. Irelad is ow i full recovery mode, ad withi strikig distace of full employmet. As we approach full employmet makig sure Irish workers have the skills that eterprise eeds matters more tha ever. If we are to secure the recovery ad future proof the Irish ecoomy we eed to put i place a log term skills strategy to esure all of our people ca reach their full potetial ad play a active role i buildig a better Irelad. The oly costat i life is chage ad that meas we eed a strategy which is flexible eough to respod to a rapidly chagig eviromet. This Strategy forms a itegral part of the Govermet s log term ecoomic pla to restore full employmet ad build a sustaiable ecoomy. It is closely aliged with broader Govermet policy icludig Eterprise 2025, Pathways to work ad the Actio Pla for Jobs. Ideed give the importace of the skills ageda to the Govermet s overall ecoomic pla it is o exaggeratio to say that this strategy forms the keystoe of Irelad s strategy to deliver log term sustaiable growth. This strategy sets a ambitious trajectory for the ext te years for skills developmet i Irelad. It marks a importat step i the evolutio of Irelad s educatio system to a system which fully supports lifelog learig ad is more resposive tha ever to the chagig eeds of participats, eterprise ad the commuity. 01. FOREWORD Skills have become the global currecy of the 21st cetury. Without proper ivestmet i skills, people laguish o the margis of society, techological progress does ot traslate ito ecoomic growth, ad coutries ca o loger compete i a icreasigly kowledge-based global society - OECD Secretary-Geeral Agel Gurría We ca cotiue ad ehace the reform of our system of educatio ad traiig with a real partership betwee the educatio sector ad eterprise to provide the mix of skills eeded over the ext te years ad beyod. This strategy puts i place the structures to eable that partership. The establishmet of Regioal Skills Fora will eable employers to have their say i what skills mix will best serve their regio ito the future. At atioal level, the ew Natioal Skills Coucil will utilise itelligece o skills requiremets to proactively address emergig skills gaps. We will use regular rigorous evaluatio of activities to costatly improve the quality of provisio at all levels ad drive key reform iitiatives already i trai, for example, i early childhood educatio, school curriculum reform ad developmet of Appreticeships. Irelad is a small coutry, we caot afford utapped talet, or do we ited to leave ay of our people locked out of participatig i the workforce through a lack of skills. That is why there is a specific focus i this strategy o active iclusio for the ecoomically margialised. We ca t deliver Govermet s ambitious jobs targets without brigig our emigrats home. Migrats will be ecouraged to retur to Irelad to take up skilled positios ad there will be icreased mobility of early-stage researchers comig through Irelad s higher educatio system ito idustry. Job creatio remais the focus of this Govermet because as the Taoiseach said recetly a job does t just mea a icome. A job ca trasform a life. Give a perso a role ad a stake. A job offers the chace to make a cotributio. It helps youg people, i particular, fid their ow path i life ad strike out to a ew future. This strategy will deliver the skills to geerate jobs ad sustaiable ecoomic growth ad help Irelad ad its people strike out to a ew ad better future. Ja O Sulliva TD Miister for Educatio ad Skills Damie Eglish Miister for Skills, Research ad Iovatio 6 7

5 This Natioal Skills Strategy I r e l a d s F u t u r e will make sure that Irelad is reowed at home ad abroad as a place where the talet of our people thrives. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 9

6 Executive Summary This Natioal Skill s Strategy: Irelad s Future builds o the progress made uder the previous strategy Towards Tomorrow s Skills 1. Over the ext te years, it will advace towards the ambitious visio that: Irelad will be reowed at home ad abroad as a place where the talet of our people thrives through: This Strategy is commecig i a time of recovery. It is hoped that, through its costituet actios ad those of may others across the coutry over the ext te years, it will coclude at a time whe Irelad has moved beyod recovery ad ito a eve more proactive period of opportuity ad growth right across the coutry. The Strategy s objectives ad associated actios have bee developed with this i mid: The quality ad relevace of our educatio ad traiig base, which is resposive to the chagig ad diverse eeds of our people, society ad the ecoomy; The stregth of relatioships ad trasfer of kowledge betwee employers, educatio ad traiig providers, ad all sectios of society, ad the resultig impact o how people are prepared for life ad work; The quality of our workforce a atio of people armed with relevat kowledge, etrepreeurial agility ad aalytical skills; The effective use of skills to support ecoomic ad social prosperity, ad to ehace the well-beig of our coutry; The effective use of techology to support talet ad skills provisio, to grow eterprise, ad to ehace the lives of all withi society. After the recet sharp global recessio, Irelad s employmet levels have recovered from a uemploymet high of 15% at the ed of 2011 to less tha 9% today. As we move ito recovery, skills shortages are ow emergig i certai areas ad occupatios, for istace i advaced maufacturig ad Iformatio Commuicatios Techology (ICT). Global treds ad drivers of chage such as chagig cosumptio patters ad shiftig power structures are shapig iteratioal markets ad emergig eterprise sectors. Techology is oe of the key drivers of chage ad improved digital skills will be vital for Irelad s future, both i higher-ed dedicated ICT jobs ad, more widely, as a basic core competece. Other core - or trasversal - skills like laguages ad etrepreeurship will also uderpi Irelad s use of its talet offerig as a global differetiator. Irelad s youg populatio with the highest proportio i the EU uder 15 is aother strog potetial competitive advatage. Of our 3 millio people of workig age, almost 30% are ecoomically iactive ad supportig this sectio of the populatio to participate i ad cotribute to the skills eeds of the labour market is oe of this Strategy's objectives. Aother objective will be to icrease the supply of skills by, for example, ecouragig Irish migrats to retur home: a move that will erich Irelad both ecoomically ad societally, ad to support older workers to remai i employmet. Icreasig people s lifelog learig, especially of those i employmet, is a atioal performace gap that this Strategy will tackle. The youthfuless of our populatio, while a clear potetial iteratioal advatage, also poses challeges to Irelad s educatio ad traiig system. Over the last decade, full-time erolmets have icreased by more tha 170,000 ad they will cotiue to rise i the comig years. These demographic pressures otwithstadig, importat reforms are uderway across all elemets of the educatio ad traiig system to improve its cohesiveess ad its relevace, ad to icrease the retur o public ivestmet through more systematic evaluatio ad drive for maximum impact Objectives 1 Educatio ad traiig providers will place a stroger focus o providig skills developmet opportuities that are relevat to the eeds of learers, society ad the ecoomy. 2 Employers will participate actively i the developmet of skills ad make effective use of skills i their orgaisatios to improve productivity ad competitiveess. 3 The quality of teachig ad learig at all stages of educatio will be cotiually ehaced ad evaluated. 4 People across Irelad will egage more i lifelog learig. 5 There will be a specific focus o active iclusio to support participatio i educatio ad traiig ad the labour market. 6 We will support a icrease i the supply of skills to the labour market. objectives

7 Robust itelligece will uderpi the Strategy s implemetatio ad iform resourcig allocatios. Prioritisatio of skills eeds will be oversee by the ew Natioal Skills Coucil. The ew Regioal Skills Fora will facilitate ogoig employer-educator dialogue to match idetified eeds with sustaiable provisio i each regio, thereby optimisig the retur o Irish ivestmet i educatio ad traiig. Iitiatives will be moitored by existig mechaisms ad regular impact evaluatios. These will be complemeted through the trackig of idetified key atioal ad iteratioal skills idicators. The cumulative itet is to esure that Irelad s people develop ad use their skills to their maximum potetial through sustaiable employmet ad civic participatio. Employers i Irelad, both private ad public, will recogise their staff as their key asset. Others, both compaies ad skilled idividuals, will be attracted to Irelad because of its global reputatio for the priority that we attach to educatio ad its role i a perso s digity, developmet ad cotributio to prosperity. Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received we eed to create a eviromet where ideas flourish ot to produce droes with skills.our graduates must have a strog emphasis o creativity ad flexibility, ideas ad thikig outside the box. Flexibility is key to ecouragig participatio i lifelog learig as for may it eeds to take place aroud the workig day..there is still a sigificat gap i the provisio of high quality courses that are suitable for those i employmet. Compaies are ow focused o traiig which will ot oly icrease the compay edge, but will eable the learer to achieve a greater uderstadig of themselves, icreasig their appetite to excel. Idividuals & Worker represetatives 01. INTRODUCTION 12 13

8 Itroductio This ew Natioal Skills Strategy 2025 aims to uderpi Irelad's growth as a ecoomy ad as a society over the comig years. Through the visio, actios ad targets set out, the Strategy will support developmet of a well-educated, well-skilled ad adaptable labour force, creatig ad sustaiig a strog pool of taleted people of all ages livig i Irelad. The Strategy builds o the progress made sice the last skills strategy, Towards Tomorrow s Skills 2, which was published i 2007 ad sets ew idicators of progress for the period to Irelad s people are its greatest asset; this Strategy will support employer ad learer access to a dyamic, adaptable, iovative ad high-quality educatio ad traiig system. Employers, whether public or private, will have access to a excellet pipelie of taleted, iovative workers. Lifelog learig will be promoted ad supported as well as more effective use of skills i the workplace to drive productivity ad iovatio. This Strategy is desiged to beefit all people livig here, compaies operatig i Irelad or plaig to establish here, those workig here ad those hopig to work here. It recogises the the role that skills ca play i the bettermet of all ad supportig people here to grow as global citizes. Buildig o the previous atioal skills strategy A umber of targets were set i the previous skills strategy, some of which used the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios (NFQ) as a referece poit. Others focused o the percetages of learers completig their secod level educatio as well as progressio to higher educatio. Sice 2007, particular progress has bee made i the followig areas: The umber of learers completig seior cycle at secod level icreased from 81% to 90.6% 3. This exceeds the 90% target set for % of people aged achieved a award at Levels 4-5 or more o the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios i This was a icrease of 7% o the baselie year of 2005 ad just 1% short of the target for Progress was ot as strog for some other targets i the previous strategy. The target to icrease the percetages of people i the labour force holdig a qualificatio at Levels 4-5 was ot met. A clear challege also remais i relatio to the share of persos with NFQ Level 3 as the highest level of educatio attaied: which at 15.4% is still early double the 2020 target of 7%. Developig the ew strategy: Methodology ad cosultatio A review of progress o the previous atioal skills strategy was the startig poit for developmet of the ew strategy. This was supplemeted by a comprehesive review of the rage of atioal ad iteratioal policy papers, evaluatios ad strategies o skills ad talet developmet; iovative educatio ad traiig; forecasts of curret ad future skills eeds; ad aalyses of labour market developmets ad treds. A high level Steerig Group, with represetatives of stakeholders from educatio ad eterprise, supported the developmet of the strategy. A detailed cosultatio paper was published olie i November 2015 ad over 120 submissios were received from idividuals ad groups represetig the full rage of employers ad the self-employed i Irelad; worker represetative groups; represetatives of the uemployed; educators; parets; other iterested members of the public; Govermet Departmets ad State agecies i the areas of eterprise, educatio, social protectio ad health. This strategy draws together the review of progress o skills ad talet developmet i Irelad ad iteratioally; recet developmets ad examples of effective policy ad practice; ad the iputs by the wide rage of stakeholders who respoded to the cosultatio documet. Flowig from the itroductio, Sectio 2 sets out a illustrative sapshot of Irelad today. Sectio 3, Chagig world, Chagig Skills sets out the atioal ad iteratioal cotext for the Strategy i terms of Irelad s employer base, global treds affectig skills eeds ad forecasted skills eeds. Sectio 4 sets out the curret compositio ad treds withi the Irish labour market Sectio 5 profiles the Irish educatio ad traiig system ad its role i Irelad s skills ad talet developmet. The progressio rate to higher educatio icreased by 14 percetage poits, from 55% to 69%, while there was a 11 percetage poit icrease i the umber of people i the labour force achievig a qualificatio at Levels 6-10 o the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios. Sectio 6 presets the Strategy s key priorities ad costituet actios. Sectio 7 outlies the meas by which the implemetatio of the Strategy will be moitored ad assessed Level-Schools-2008-Cohort.pdf 14 15

9 Our Visio ad OBJECTIVES to 2025 A WELL-SKILLED, ADAPTABLE AND INNOVATIVE WORKFORCE CAN UNDERPIN IMPROVED LIVING STANDARDS FOR ALL OVER THE LONGER TERM. THE AVAILABILITY OF SKILLED TALENTED PEOPLE IS ONE OF IRELAND S KEY INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENTIATORS IN THE ATTRACTION OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. IT ALSO DRIVES THE SUCCESS OF OUR INDIGENOUS ENTERPRISE BASE, FROM INNOVATIVE START-UPS THROUGH SMALL EMPLOYERS CRITICALLY LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY TO SCALING FIRMS WITH HIGH GROWTH POTENTIAL. OUR VISION Irelad will be reowed at home ad abroad as a place where the talet of our people thrives through: The quality ad relevace of our educatio ad traiig base, which is resposive to the chagig ad diverse eeds of our people, society ad the ecoomy; The stregth of relatioships ad trasfer of kowledge betwee employers, educatio ad traiig providers, ad all sectios of society, ad the resultig impact o how people are prepared for life ad work; The quality of our workforce a atio of people armed with relevat kowledge, etrepreeurial agility ad aalytical skills; The effective use of skills to support ecoomic ad social prosperity, ad to ehace the well-beig of our coutry; The effective use of techology to support talet ad skills provisio, to grow eterprise ad to ehace the lives of all withi society. ad traiig courses. Coversely, studets caot lear relevat skills without employers egagig i the skills ageda. For example, compaies frequetly express their eed for experieced graduates. I order to deliver this, opportuities for studets to gai practical experiece must be more widely available. Improved chaels for ogoig stakeholder dialogue ad resultat actio will be provided i the regios by the ew Regioal Skills Fora. These fora will be supported at atioal level by more streamlied mechaisms that will traslate itelligece o skills eeds ito actios prioritised o the basis of likely impact ad available resources through the ew Natioal Skills Coucil. To support the achievemet of this visio, over the period to 2025, our objectives are that: Educatio ad traiig providers will place a stroger focus o providig skills developmet opportuities that are relevat to the eeds of learers, society ad the ecoomy. Employers will participate actively i the developmet of skills ad make effective use of skills i their orgaisatios to improve productivity ad competitiveess. The quality of teachig ad learig at all stages of educatio ad traiig will be cotiually ehaced ad evaluated. Irelad's educatio ad traiig system will deliver more flexible, iovative ad iterdiscipliary skills provisio Returs o public ivestmet i educatio ad traiig will be maximised through more active employer egagemet, clear prioritisatio of iitiatives based o available resources ad their regular evaluatio for impact ad efficiecy. Realisatio of this visio will ivolve learers, employers ad educators, as well as relevat State Departmets ad agecies. Progress towards it will ivolve systematic evaluatio of learer outcomes ad the active participatio of all. Employers caot source more relevat skills without resposive educatio ad traiig providers or without studets pursuig the right educatio People across Irelad will egage more i lifelog learig. There will be active iclusio to support participatio i educatio ad traiig ad the labour market. We will support a icrease i the supply of skills to the labour market

10 02. Irelad at a glace OECD Govermet at a Glace 2015 shows that the level of satisfactio i Irelad, was 83 per cet i The secod highest of all the Europea coutries surveyed. SATISFACTION WITH THE EDUCATION SYSTEM 83% i 2014 Irelad s populatio is curretly millio Populatio With 1 millio uder the age of 15 the highest proportio i the EU FULL-TIME LEARNERS IN IRELAND LIFELONG LEARNING SCHOOL GOING POPULATION LEARNING BEYOND SCHOOL WORKPLACE LEARNING 1,983,000 of the populatio are i employmet with a target to icrease employmet to 2.18 millio by the ed of The umber of those uemployed at the ed of 2015 is 200,000 Youth uemploymet (15-24 year olds) although reducig, remais uacceptably high at 19.7%. EMPLOYMENT 185,000 eterprises across Irelad employ 1,2 millio people UNEMPLOYMENT INACTIVE The CSO Q figures show that the umber of self-employed has icreased by 5,400 over the last year, brigig the total up to 323,000 i.e. over 16% of those i work i Irelad. Oly 33% of people with disability of workig age are i work compared with 66% of o-disabled people Log-term uemploymet rates have falle but this cohort still accouts for 54% of those people out of work 1 millio There are over full-time learers i the educatio ad traiig system Lifelog learig participatio rate for 2014 was 6.7% compared to a EU average of 10.7% Lower participatio rates amog those i employmet at 5.5% compare to the EU Average of 11.6% There are 916,000 childre ad youg people i schools ad this will cotiue to icrease to 2025 Over 173,000+ full-time ad over 38,000 part-time studets i higher educatio Full-time erolmet i higher educatio has grow by 30% over the past 9 years demad for places is expected to icrease by 30% over the ext 15 years Over 230,000 people were scheduled to start FET programmes durig 2015 Expediture by employers o traiig has remaied relatively static over the years. Amogst Agecy supported firms, expediture o traiig as a percetage of sales accouted for oe percet i 2013 ad has ot icreased beyod a peak of 1.3 percet i 2000 Nearly 30% people are ecoomically iactive, with a higher proportio of those with low skills 18 19

11 3. CHANGING WORLD, CHANGING SKILLS This Strategy has bee developed agaist a backdrop of substatial atioal ad iteratioal upheaval marked the start of a severe global recessio which hit Irelad hard. At the height of the dowtur i late 2011, a estimated 47 millio people were uemployed i 34 OECD coutries 4. I Irelad, early 330,000 or 15.1% of the labour force were uemployed 5. Youth uemploymet (15 to 24 year-olds) was almost 30% 6. Irelad was oe of five EU coutries that had to accept fiacial assistace from the Europea Cetral Bak (ECB) ad the Iteratioal Moetary Fud (IMF). Sice the ed of 2012, however, there have bee sigs of recovery, both globally ad i Irelad ad this recovery has cotiued to-date. Employmet figures have improved; i Irelad uemploymet has bee reduced to 8.8% as at December 2015, with almost two millio people i employmet. Youth uemploymet has reduced to 19.7% 7. The Irish Govermet has set a target of 2.18 millio people i employmet by ,000 ew jobs were created betwee Q ad Q , ad the treds poit to cotiued growth ad expasio, although there are still risks to the recovery at atioal ad global levels. OVERVIEW OF IRELAND S EMPLOYERS TODAY Accordig to the latest figures from the CSO 9, 1,983,000 of the 2,186,000 i the labour force today are employed, a aual icrease of 2.9%. Employmet icreased i the majority of sectors over the year. The largest rates of icrease were recorded i the Costructio (+13.3% or 15,000) ad the Idustry (+5.7% or 13,600) sectors. 03. CHANGING WORLD, CHANGING SKILLS Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received The maagemet of the tesio betwee stakeholders which exists for example, betwee the terms traiig ad skills o the oe had ad educatio o the other is also a critical area which requires ogoig egagemet. Educatio & Traiig providers 4 OECD Labour Force Statistics CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey, Q CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey, Q CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey Q3, CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey Q3, CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey Q

12 Figure 2 Persos aged 15 years ad over i employmet (ILO) classified by Quarter ad Quarter k 200k 100k 0k Agriculture, forestry & fishig 8 Fiacial, isurace & real estate activities 2 Idustry 9 Professioal, scietific & techical activities 3 Costructio 10 Admiistrative & support service activities 4 Wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles Q Q Trasportatio & storage 12 Educatio 11 Public admiistratio & defece; compulsory social security 6 Accommodatio & food storage activities 13 Huma health & social work activities 7 Iformatio & commuicatio 14 Other NACE activities Source: CSO Irelad SELF-EMPLOYED Out of the 1.98 millio i employmet, 1,644,000 are classified by the CSO as employees ad 323,000 as self-employed. The latter icreased by 5,400 or 1.7% over the year, brigig selfemployed as a proportio of those i employmet to 16%. The Global Etrepreeurship Moitor Survey 14 shows that Table 1 Breakdow of eterprise sector by compay ad employmet Compay size (by employee umber) Number of compaies Employmet % of Total Employmet Large (+250) ,000 32% Medium (50-249) 2, ,000 19% Small (10-49 ) 14, , % Micro (-10) 168, , % Source: CSO Busiess i Irelad 2012 Report, published December 2014ymet Irelad is close to the Europea Uio average i ascet etrepreeurship (those i the process of startig up), ew busiess owership ad discotiuatio of busiess rates. Irish etrepreeurship i the form of established busiess owership rates exceed the Europea Uio average by 3.2 percetage poits. A estimated 1.2 millio of employees work i the private sector 10. A sigificat proportio of these work i export-orieted iovative compaies such as those supported by Eterprise Irelad ad the IDA. Recet data from the two key idustrial developmet agecies 11 poits to strog growth i their cliet compaies with agecies supportig a combied total of early 380,000 jobs throughout the coutry i The Europea Uio average etrepreeurship rate for early stage etrepreeurial activity exceeds the Irish rate by 1.3 percetage poits. Phases of Etrepreeurail activity Compay scale though remais a issue i Irelad. Previous data from the CSO 12 shows that there are approximately 185,000 eterprises across Irelad. Of these, more tha 90% are classified as micro, i.e. employig less tha te people. This creates challeges for upskillig ad reskillig the workforce i these orgaisatios as they ofte do't have dedicated huma resource or traiig fuctios to idetify skills eeds ad appropriate resposes. They also fid it harder to release people for off-the-job traiig ad at the same time maitai ormal dayto-day operatios. Oe of Eterprise Irelad s mai strategic objectives 13 is to scale compaies that demostrate growth potetial, ad skills capability developmet is cetral to the achievemet of this objective. 10 CSO, QNHS Q Eterprise Irelad 2015 Ed-of-Year Statemet ad IDA Irelad 2015 Ed-of Year Statemet. 12 CSO, December 2014, Busiess i Irelad 2012 Report 13 Europea Uio Irelad Nascet Eterpreeurship rate New busiess owership Early stage etrepreeurial activity Established busiess owership rate Discotiuatio of busiess 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% Source: GEM 2014 % of populatio aged

13 Irelad s Natioal Policy Statemet o Etrepreeurship 15 (2014) sets out key atioal objectives ad iitiatives to drive etrepreeurship i the comig years. The educatio ad traiig system is recogised withi this as makig a key cotributio. The Actio Pla for Jobs sets out specific actios to sustai the rate of icrease i ew start-ups ad etrepreeurship ad sets a target to double jobs impact from start-ups by supportig survival ad scalig of ew busiesses. PUBLIC SECTOR The public sector as a whole is essetial to Irelad s overall developmet ad, like the eterprise sector, is facig sigificat skills issues. For istace, as healthcare delivery models evolve, the future roles of healthcare professioals will chage, as will the competecies that will determie success. I educatio, chages have already bee made to iitial teacher educatio programmes to better prepare teachers for the classroom ad the learig priorities of the 21 st cetury. Of the 376,000 people workig i the public sector, the majority are employees i Health (121,000) ad Educatio (111,000), which are both critically importat to society ad the ecoomy. Figure 2 Public Sector Employmet by Sub-Sector CURRENT TRENDS IN SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR SKILLS IN THE ECONOMY The Natioal Skills Bulleti 17 highlights curret skills demad by occupatio. A review of the Skills Bulleti for each of the four years highlights the followig key treds: There are skills shortages for Professioals ad Associate Professioals across sectors i areas of ICT, Sciece ad Egieerig. The shortage of ICT talet is potetially sigificat for a umber of sectors where ICT skills are eeded (e.g. Software, Data Aalytics, Fiacial Services, Distributio). There are also Professioals skills shortages i specific sectors such as Fiacial Services, Health (medical practitioers ad urses) ad Costructio (surveyors) - the latter oly begiig to exhibit a skills shortage i As the ecoomy has picked up, i additio to Costructio, the Freight Trasport, Distributio & Logistics sector has begu to exhibit skills shortages. Multiligual skills for Associate Professioals i ICT ad Sales & Marketig, ad for Admiistrative staff i Fiacial Services ad Freight Trasport, Distributio & Logistics. Total Public Sector icludig Semi State bodies Total Public Sector excludig Semi State bodies Health Educatio Semi-State compaies Commercial Semi-State compaies Civil Service Regioal bodies Garda Siochaa No commercial Semi-State compaies Defece Source: Q3, 2015 (CSO, QNHS) I summary, the greatest skills demad is for Professioals, Associate Professioals ad people with multiligual skills. I additio, the Natioal Skills Bulleti also idetifies a high volume of turover i the Irish labour market: almost 250,000 trasitios betwee employers ad betwee occupatios occurred i These trasitios are typically cocetrated i the lower ed of the skills scale (e.g. elemetary occupatio, sales assistats etc.), I seekig to address these issues durig the implemetatio of this strategy, the educatio ad traiig sector will have a cotiuig role to play i seekig to miimise the gap betwee demad ad supply where there are shortages of people with the right skills to fill available jobs. Uderstadig the levels of skill required, coupled with the level of work experiece eeded will be key. It will also have a importat role i upskillig ad reskillig people with lower skills to eable them to gai more sustaiable employmet. RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT As set out i the Itroductio, this Strategy has bee developed with referece to a umber of key atioal ad iteratioal policy developmets. At EU level, Europe sets priorities ad targets Europe-wide ad by coutry for issues that iclude employmet, fightig poverty ad social exclusio; research; climate chage; eergy sustaiability ad educatio. Horizo sets out priorities ad targets specifically for research ad iovatio

14 I Irelad, a umber of recet publicatios form a importat backdrop to this Strategy, i particular Eterprise (2015); Iovatio (2015); the Natioal Policy Statemet o Etrepreeurship 23 (2014); Iteratioal Fiacial Services ; Food Wise , People, Place ad Policy - Growig Tourism to ; Costructio ; Tradig ad Ivestig i a Smart Ecoomy A Strategy ad Actio Pla for Irish Trade, Tourism ad Ivestmet to ad its review 29 ; the Natioal Digital Strategy 30 (2013), ad the series of Actio Pla for Jobs 31 atioal ad the ew Actio Pla for Jobs regioal plas(2015) ad the Pathways to Work 32 policies. ENTERPRISE 2025 Eterprise 2025 (EP2025), the Govermet s ew eterprise policy framework ad strategy sets the ambitio to have 2.18 millio people at work by the ed of 2020 ad to achieve a uemploymet rate of 6%. This equates to a extra 266,000 at work o the ed-2014 baselie. I the three years iclusive a additioal 150,000 jobs have bee created i the Irish ecoomy, with all sectors showig sigs of growth. Most otable is that the cliets of the eterprise agecies are to the fore i creatig ew jobs, with estimates of over 55,000 extra employed i agecy cliets i the three years iclusive, ad EP2025 sets ambitious targets equatig to growth of 12,500 per aum to The sigificace of the agecy cliet base is that for every ew job created by agecy cliets it is estimated there is a further job supported i the rest of the ecoomy through purchases of raw materials ad services etc. I additio to the ew jobs created, there will also be a demad for 400,000 job replacemets over the period to 2020 as people move out of the workforce through retiremet, etc. EP 2025 sets out the eterprise sectors i which Irelad has comparative advatage ad that cotribute the greater proportio toward exports. These sectors accout for a sigificat proportio of the Eterprise Irelad ad IDA eterprise agecy cliet portfolio ad iclude ICT (hardware ad software), Health Lifescieces (icludig pharma, biopharma ad medical techologies), Iteratioal Fiacial Services, Iteratioally Traded Services, Egieerig/Idustrial Products ad Agri-Food /people-place-ad-policy-growig-tourism-2025.pdf Strategy-ad-Actio-Pla-to-2015.pdf Strategy-for-Irelad.aspx New areas of opportuity ad utapped potetial are highlighted i EP2025. These iclude agritech, advaced maufacturig (3D Pritig / additive maufacturig), Aquaculture, Big Data, Bor Globals, Composites ad advaced materials, ehealth, e-tailig, Fitech, Geoscieces, Iteret of Thigs, Sharig Ecoomy, Smart Ageig, ad Space. These are the opportuities that are kow about ow ad others will aturally emerge over the course of this Strategy. Aualised jobs targets have ot bee set out i EP2025. Rather, it assesses where there is potetial for employmet growth across four broad sectoral cohorts as set out i Table 2 below. All sectors are evolvig i respose to market demads ad eabled by techology developmets, presetig cosiderable opportuities arisig from covergece, ew busiess models ad ew market segmets such as smart ageig. Table 2 Eterprise 2025 Sectoral Ambitio Sectoral cohort Brief overview of potetial to 2020 Employmet Employmet 2014 (base year) 2020 Buildig o stregths ICT, Lifescieces, AgriFood, Iteratioally Traded Services, Iteratioally tradig fiacial services, Egieerig/idustrial products Trasformig employmet itesive sectors Tourism, Retail & wholesale, Costructio, Trasport & logistics, Primary productio, Other maufacturig/sub supply Realisig utapped potetial Creative Idustries, Gree Techologies / evirometal services, Marie ad maritime, Educatio services, Healthcare services Other locally traded services ad activities Legal, accoutig ad other professioal, services, Busiess ad cosultacy services, Persoal services Primarily export orietated cotributig circa 80% of total exports. These sectors reflect the bulk of the eterprise agecy cliet base. Icludes both foreig ad Irish owed etities from small to large scale multiatioals. These sectors are primarily locally tradig (with the exceptio of tourism that geerates foreig earigs ad some other maufacturig ). I the mai they play a dual role withi the ecoomy. A high proportio is Irish owed, but with icreasig foreig owed presece (particularly hospitality ad retail).it icludes compaies through from micro to large scale. These are broadly defied sectors that icorporate a rage of differet subsectors ad cross a umber of Govermet Departmet areas of resposibility. Educatio ad health services preset opportuity for private sector provisio ad iteratioalisatio. Geerally small scale, Irish owed ad regioally dispersed. Primarily professioal, busiess ad persoal services tradig locally. High proportio of micro eterprises with some large scale providers that deliver services iteratioally ad / or through global parterships. Cosiderable potetial to ehace competitiveess, which beefits other busiess ad the overall ecoomy. 283, , ,800 1,000, , , , ,

15 The skills required i the above sectors are across all qualificatios ad experiece levels. SECTORAL & THEMATIC EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS A umber of Govermet Strategies ad idividual Expert Group o Future Skills Needs (EGSFN) 33 sectoral ad thematic reports have quatified the specific skills requiremets i a umber of sectors, such as: Iovatio 2020, forecasts that there will be a icreased demad for research persoel withi the eterprise sector risig from 20,000 curretly to 40,000 by These researchers are expected to be across all skill levels, from techicias through to PhD level research leaders. Agriculture ad food. The Teagasc Food ad Agricultural Policy Research Istitute (FAPRI) assessmet of employmet impacts of achievig the Harvest 2020 targets for a 50% icrease i output by 2020 estimated growth i agri-food employmet of at least a additioal 16,500 employees. The Govermet s Costructio 2020 strategy forecasts employmet growth i the order of 60,000 to The strategy for the Iteratioal Fiacial Services to 2020 forecasts growth of 10,000 jobs i that sector. ICT employmet across a rage of sectors is projected to grow by a estimated 44,500 potetial job opeigs betwee 2013 ad Maufacturig is expected to grow by 43,000 jobs over the period This icludes Biopharma, which the idustry expects to grow i the short term by 5,000 jobs betwee Data Aalytics - 18,000 extra jobs are forecast betwee Hospitality - based o the Ecoomic ad Social Research Istitute (ESRI) Medium-Term Review, employmet growth betwee 2015 ad 2020 is expected to rage from 9,990 to 21,540 with the successful implemetatio of the Govermet s ew Tourism Strategy to Freight Trasport, Distributio & Logistics - 10,000 extra jobs are forecast betwee OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT FORECASTS I additio to forecasts of growth by sector, the Skills ad Labour Market Research Uit i SOLAS produces occupatioal employmet forecasts. The latest forecasts were published i 2014 ad cover the period Although the ecoomic recovery that has take place sice 2012 outpaced the projected growth uder the most optimistic sceario cosidered i the report ( recovery with competitive maufacturig sceario ), the occupatioal projectios geerated are still useful i idicatig how the directio ad pace of growth is likely to differ betwee occupatios. I that cotext, it is the relative differeces, rather tha absolute employmet growth that should be used as a guide for future demad for skills. I order to highlight more clearly the demad for differet skill types, the occupatioal forecasts also group occupatios with similar skill sets ito occupatioal families 35 as illustrated i Figure 3 ad Table 3 below. For istace, the followig occupatios are icluded i the Costructio, Fiacial ad Sciece, Egieerig ad IT families: Costructio: costructio maagers, costructio professioals (e.g. civil egieers, architects), costructio techicias (e.g. draughtspersos) ad costructio craftspersos (e.g. bricklayers, plasterers). Fiacial: fiacial maagers, fiacial professioals (e.g. accoutats), fiacial associate professioals (e.g. ivestmet aalysts) ad fiacial clerks (e.g. payroll clerks) are grouped ito a fiacial occupatioal family. Sciece, Egieerig ad IT: scietists, scietific techicias, egieers, egieerig techicias, ICT professioals (e.g. programmers, software egieers, web desigers etc.), ICT maagers ad ICT techicias. Ecoomic recovery is likely to result i employmet growth i all occupatioal families, except farmig. However, the level of employmet is expected to vary by occupatioal family. Some occupatioal families (e.g. Costructio) are also recoverig from a low base followig the recessio, while for other occupatioal families, otwithstadig the higher tha average growth rates projected, the umber of additioal jobs will be relatively small. If fiscal policy becomes expasioary i the short to medium term, growth i educatio ad healthcare occupatios is likely to be higher tha that projected here. It should be oted that, give the size of the workforce i educatio, health ad care activities, ay positive rate of chage is likely to traslate to substatial icreases i employmet i absolute terms. A update of the occupatioal employmet projectios is expected to be carried out by SOLAS i the secod half of 2016, followig the publicatio of the ESRI s ext Medium-Term Review Occupatioal Employmet Projectios 2020, SOLAS, Jauary Occupatioal Employmet Projectios 2020, SOLAS, Jauary 2014, pages

16 Figure 3 Projected average aual employmet growth for the period by occupatioal family - recovery with competitive maufacturig Social ad care Trasport Admiistrative All occupatios Arts, sports tourism Ski l l S tal e t Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received Sciece, Egieerig, IT Sales ad customer service Security Other services Operative Busiess Costructio Educatio Elemetary Farmers The skill of learig to lear; employers across the globe caot predict the skills they will eed for jobs that do ot yet exist, those who have prove to be adaptable, curious ad kow their ow learig style have succeeded i rapidly chagig idustries. Irelad eeds to thik wider tha its atioal boudary ad cosider skills to have value across the globe. Ivestmet i traiig has largely bee focussed o traiig the uemployed, or school leavers but eeds to ow focus o people who require upskillig or reskillig to maitai their curret role or to progress withi a chose field of eterprise to maitai market share agaist competitors ad bee see as best i class. No-costructio craft Legal Fiacial Healthcare Employers & Employer Represetatives Source: SLMRU, SOLAS PROJECTED AVERAGE ANNUAL EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN % AVERAGE GROWTH OF 2.2% Table 3 Growth by occupatioal family to Above average employmet growth Average growth Below average growth costructio occupatios (strog growth from very low base) operative occupatios sciece, egieerig ad IT (STEM) occupatios legal, busiess ad fiacial (icludig fiacial admiistratio) occupatios o-costructio craft occupatios trasport occupatios sales ad customer care occupatios services, arts, sports tourism occupatios elemetary ad admiistrative occupatios GLOBAL DRIVERS AND TRENDS: IMPACT ON SKILLS NEEDS EP2025 sets out the drivers of chage ad global treds that are ifluecig developmets i Irelad ad the rest of the world. The drivers of chage ad treds work separately ad i combiatio to produce ew challeges ad opportuities i the ecoomy ad society. The drivers of chage iclude demographics, techological advaces, urbaisatio ad climate chage, ad these will alter ad shape the eviromet i which eterprises i Irelad ad globally operate. These drivers have itesified iteratioal competitio for trade, ivestmet ad people ad their ifluece is already reflected i policy formulatio across Govermet ad this will cotiue i the comig years. The global treds cosequetly emergig are techological chage, chagig cosumptio patters, ew ways of workig, global value etworks (value chais), urbaisatio ad pressure o resources ad shiftig power structures. 36 Occupatioal Employmet Projectios 2020, SOLAS, Jauary

17 GLOBAL TRENDS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON DEMAND FOR AND DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE CHANGING CONSUMPTION PATTERNS NEW WAYS OF WORKING GLOBAL VALUE NETWORKS URBANISATION AND PRESSURE ON RESOURCES SHIFTING POWER STRUCTURES The covergece of techologies i the desig, maufacturig ad supply of goods ad services is leadig to a greater demad for cross-discipliary kowledge ad skillsets. This has implicatios for the developmet of techology-based skills ad requires icreased collaboratio betwee differet disciplies i istitutios for the sharig of kowledge ad expertise. Chagig cosumptio patters, highlights the importace of e-commerce, marketig ad sellig skills, ad customer care ad support. There will be a high demad for desig ad creative skills for the adaptatio ad developmet of ew products ad services to meet customer prefereces. There will also be growig health ad social care skill requiremets i respose to the eeds of a ageig populatio. New ways of workig meas that compaies eed to ivest i their employees at all levels to maitai productivity ad improve staff retetio. Idividuals themselves will eed to cotiually upskill ad reskill. There is a risig demad for more higher-level cogitive ad iterpersoal skills. The skillsets of people i elemetary occupatios ad those i higher skilled occupatios will eed to be developed i this costatly chagig eviromet. The developmet of global value etworks highlights the eed to develop strategic skills for the maagemet of iteratioal ad virtual teams, project maagemet, cultural awareess, ad customer care ad support. The right mix of skills will also be eeded to esure techical ad busiess excellece across the differet fuctioal areas of busiess icludig Resarch & Developmet (R&D), maufacturig, marketig, distributio ad customer care. Urbaisatio ad pressure o resources require the developmet of core busiess, egieerig, iovatio ad ICT skills, with additioal expertise acquired through add-o specialism modules icludig for alterative forms of eergy, efficiet eergy buildig, lea maufacturig, ad more efficiet utilities ad trasportatio systems. Shiftig power structures ad the growig ecoomic stregth of developig ad trasitioig ecoomies meas greater cosumer demad from these coutries. This tred is leadig to a growig importace of maagemet leadership, busiess plaig skills, iteratioal marketig ad sellig skills, foreig laguage capability ad cultural awareess. These drivers ad treds are ifluecig the developmet of educatio ad traiig systems which will eed to cotiue to adapt as people s lifestyles ad work demads chage. Lifelog learig ad access to a variety of learig opportuities beyod school, which provides for greater choice, flexibility ad pathways betwee levels, courses ad providers, is becomig icreasigly importat. It is also becomig icreasigly importat to ivolve employers i the developmet ad provisio of learig to esure it s relevace to the eeds of the workplace. SKILL SETS NEEDS OF THE IRISH ECONOMY The labour market is costatly evolvig, ad the specific occupatios, skills ad qualificatios that are required chage over time maitai employmet ad for eterprises. The icreasigly iterdiscipliary ature of the world of work is also resultig i overlaps i the skills required across differet sectors ad occupatios. Over the ext te years, people workig i Irelad will eed a mix of sectoral, cross-sectoral ad trasveral skills. TRANSVERSAL SKILLS I terms of types of skills, it is clear from the aalysis ad the submissios received from stakeholders that trasversal skills are icreasigly importat i eablig people to gai ad maitai employmet ad for eterprises. Trasversal skills are relevat to a broad rage of occupatios ad sectors. They are ofte referred to as geeric, core, basic or soft skills ad are the corerstoe for a idividual s persoal developmet. Trasversal skills are the buildig blocks for the developmet of the hard, vocatioal or techical skills required to succeed i the labour market. The trasversal skills as idetified by eterprise iclude creativity, iovatio ad etrepreeurship, critical & aalytical thikig, team work, commuicatio ad busiess acume. CROSS-SECTORAL SKILLS Cross-sectoral skills are of growig importace. There is icreasig covergece betwee sectors such as ICT, busiess, ad egieerig, which were oce cosidered to be very uique i their ow right. ICT ow permeates almost all sectors of the ecoomy, ad similarly, strog busiess skills are relevat across may sectors. Cross-sectoral skills improve a idividual s employability, ad eable occupatioal mobility. The skills ca be used i a umber of similar occupatios ad sectors, but might require additioal domai specific traiig to allow them to be applied i a ew job ad/or work eviromet. The key cross sectoral skills idetified by the EGFSN are: ICT Skills 37 - core techology skills e.g. software developers, cloud, security, etworkig ad ifrastructure ad a combiatio of these techical skills with busiess/aalytic/foreig laguage skills as the skills requiremets become more complex. Data Aalytics 38 - Deep aalytical talet, Big Data-savvy roles, Supportig techology. Foreig Laguage ad Cultural Awareess 39 - laguages i demad are: Germa, Frech, Spaish, Italia, Portuguese ad the Nordic laguages. Idustry egagemet advises o the growig eed also for Madari. Busiess Skills - Sales ad Marketig 40 required i additio to techical skills, as roles may ivolve dealig with customers, techical sales ad product developmet Egieerig 41 - Mechaical, Electrical / Electroic, Idustrial / Maufacturig productio, process quality, validatio, product desig/developmet 37 Addressig Future Demad for High-Level ICT Skills, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Assessig the demad for Big Data ad aalytics Skills, , Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Key Skills for Eterprise to Trade Iteratioally, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Future Skills Requiremet of the Maufacturig Sector to 2020, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs Addressig Future Demad for High-Level ICT Skills, Expert Group o Future Skills Needs

18 SECTOR-SPECIFIC SKILLS Notwithstadig the trasversal skills ad the cross-sectoral ature of skills outlied above, some sectors will cotiue to require specific skill-sets. Sectors with such skills eeds ad the type of skill eeded - icludig cross-sectoral skills - are outlied below. The sectors are those which are importat to the Irish ecoomy ad have also bee the subject of a future skills eeds aalysis by the EGFSN 42. Table 4 Sector Specific Skills eeds Sector Fiacial Services ICT Sector Maufacturig Medical Devices Bio-Pharma Food & Beverages Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality Freight, Trasport & Logistics Wholesale & Retail Costructio 42 Skills eeds risk, compliace, accoutig, busiess itelligece, ICT ad data aalytics. These skills ca be foud i egieerig, mathematics, data aalytics, busiess ad law graduates. core techology skills, e.g. software developers, cloud, security, etworkig ad ifrastructure ad a combiatio of the techical skills with busiess/aalytic/foreig laguage skills as the skills requiremets become more complex scietists with experiece ad egieers mechaical, automatio ad validatio egieers; polymer techicias, software egieers, quality egieers ad regulatory compliace experts techicias ad seior process scietists, pharma co-vigilace persoel, biotechologists, biochemists, egieers icludig precisio egieerig R&D scietists, food techologists ad techicias with ew product developmet skills; iteratioal ssales/marketig with laguages for iteratioal trade chefs: commis, demi, pastry ad chef de partie. graduate- maagers, plaers ad ICT staff; skilled warehouse staff ad HGV drivers accoutacy, supply chai maagemet, retail marketig ad data miig of retail data, fiace ad huma resource maagemet chartered surveyors; iteratioalisatio ad maagemet capability; ICT, Buildig Iformatio Modellig (BIM) systems ad Gree Ecoomy skills. IN FOCUS: DEMAND FOR TECH TALENT AND ICT SKILLS Techology is oe of the key drivers of chage i the ecoomy. Globally, ICT is i the midst of a growth ad iovatio phase which is impactig o busiesses across all sectors of the ecoomy. Techology is oe of the key drivers of chage i the ecoomy. Globally, ICT is i the midst of a growth ad iovatio phase which is impactig o busiesses across all sectors of the ecoomy. This icludes the adoptio of cloud computig, mobile devices, the Iteret of Thigs, Big Data Aalytics. The availability of high-level ICT skills is a uique sellig poit i attractig mobile ICT ivestmet ad growig busiesses across all sectors. EGFSN research idicates a curret demad for high-level ICT skills at a average 8,000 ew job opeigs per aum. Of these, it was estimated by the EGFSN that 85% of the job opeigs would be for high-level ICT professioals at NFQ Level 8 +. The Fastrack to IT (FIT) ICT Skills Audit 43 carried out i 2014 shows that 75% of immediate vacacies are for employees able to exercise skills at the competet ad etry leves, compared to 25% at the expert level. The audit idicates that Big Data Aalysis has the highest demad for skills at expert level, whereas areas such as Networkig/PC Maiteace, Cotact Cetre Support, ad Platform Admiistratio highlighted a higher requiremet for cadidates with competet ad etry level skillsets. Respodets the survey also highlighted teamwork, multi-taskig, kowledge of busiess operatios, market practice ad customer awareess as other importat skills that people eed i additio to their techical skills. Agaist a backgroud of strog global demad for ICT Talet, it makes sese to create multiple pathways to ICT careers which will make it a attractive optio to a broader rage of people. A sustaied effort is required to icrease the ICT skills supply icludig through further educatio ad higher educatio, coversio programmes, cotiuig professioal developmet (CPD), ad attractig experieced iteratioal ad expatriate talet. To support the growth of the ICT talet pipelie, employers also eed to promote careers to prospective employees, particularly wome. I additio, both the EGFSN study ad the FIT Audit also highlights that people with developed ICT skills are ot just eeded i the Techology sector. May differet types of jobs ow require various levels of ICT Skills proficiecy. This tred is likely to cotiue as techology icreasigly becomes embedded i busiess fuctios ad processes across compaies ad sectors. The cotiued developmet ad adaptatio of ew techologies will, over time, result i the emergece of ew skillsets, jobs ad career paths

19 l S FORECASTING FUTURE SKILLS NEEDS A key challege over the ext decade will be to esure a adequate supply of the skills required i the labour market. The appropriate quatity ad type of skills will come from our existig workforce ad from people who will eter the workforce over the ext decade, both from Irelad ad abroad. The skills required i the sectors outlied earlier are expected to be across all qualificatios ad experiece levels. I their latest forecasts, CEDEFOP 44, predicts that most job opportuities i Irelad will require high-level qualificatios (ISCED 97 levels 5 ad 6 45 ). However, due to replacemet demad they predict that there will also be sigificat umbers of job opportuities requirig medium-level qualificatios (ISCED 97 levels 3 ad 4) 46. However, forecasts are oly oe source of data ad eed to be iterrogated give the fact that most forecastig methods rely o observed past treds. As a result, basig estimates of future demad exclusively o forecasts of employmet by educatio level may ot be the optimal approach ad uderlies the eed for forecasts to be used i cojuctio with other data sources, icludig ogoig egagemet with employers o their skills eeds to determie how these eeds ca best be met. I additio, forecastig models ted to categorise skills as low, medium ad high. High skilled jobs are typically thought of those requirig a third level qualificatio. However, may vocatioal skills acquired through Further Educatio ad Traiig (FET) are also high skilled, e.g. tool makig or aircraft mechaics. This also uderlies the eed for ogoig moitorig of available data sources mediated by dialogue with stakeholders. This is already beig doe at local level by idividual educatio istitutios through egagig directly with employers i desigig courses, ivolvig employers i the delivery of programmes ad through orgaisig work placemets for studets. It also highlights the eed for accessible iformatio for school goers ad adults makig career ad course choices ad for those that support ad ifluece them i makig these choices, icludig parets, guidace cousellors ad teachers. The Regioal Skills Fora, beig developed by the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills (DES), provide a ideal forum for forecasts ad other datasets to be used to iform discussios betwee employers ad educatio ad traiig providers o skills eeds i each regio. Where educatio ad traiig is the appropriate respose, plas ca be developed for how best this ca be delivered by providers across a regio, while also cosiderig the eeds of learers ad the cost to the State. I Focus - Team Limerick - Makig a Differece for the Regio I 2014, Limerick for IT developed out of a partership betwee IT compaies based i Limerick, Limerick Istitute of Techology, Uiversity of Limerick, Limerick City ad Couty Coucil ad the IDA. Twelve of the largest IT compaies i Limerick are ow ivolved. The idustry parters work together to idetify future skills eeds ad to secure madates withi their compaies to further develop existig operatios i Irelad. They the egage closely with the higher educatio istitutios to idetify course requiremets or develop ew courses to esure that the latest skills eeded by the sector are provided. As a result of the success of the Limerick for IT iitiative, a secod group Limerick for Egieerig, focused o the eed for egieerig graduates has ow bee established. This ivolves some of the largest maufacturig compaies i Limerick. Betwee both iitiatives more tha 350 jobs have bee created so far ad there are plas for a sigificat umber of additioal IT ad egieerig employmet opportuities i the Limerick regio. Ski l tal e t Equivalet to Higher Educatio o-degree ad degree level 46 Equivalet to Leavig Certificate ad Further Educatio ad Traiig level qualificatios levels 4 ad 5 o Irelad s Natioal Framework of Qualificatios 36 37

20 Chagig World, Chagig Skills: Key Challeges & Opportuities This Strategy has bee developed agaist a backdrop of substatial atioal ad iteratioal chage. This presets challeges i esurig that we have the right umber of people with the right types of skills available at the right time. Irelad s employers of today iclude a large umber of small compaies. This scale issue impacts ivestmet i workforce developmet as these compaies do ot have dedicated Huma Resources (HR) or traiig fuctios ad fid it hard to release people for offthe-job-traiig. It is forecast that there will be sigificat demad for skills arisig from the creatio of ew jobs i the ecoomy ad replacemet demad i the period to These vacacies will be filled by people already i the labour force ad by people eterig the labour force, both from Irelad ad abroad. l l S A host of global treds ad drivers of chage will shape the employmet ad skills eeds of all employers. I this fast chagig eviromet, versatility is key. A orgaisatio s success will, i large part, deped o makig the best use of skills available to them, icludig ICT proficiecy, commuicatios, busiess acume, teamwork, foreig laguage proficiecy ad cultural awareess. tal e t Core trasversal skills are becomig ever more importat to a idividual s successful ad sustaiable employmet. They also eable people to move betwee jobs ad careers, to participate i lifelog educatio ad traiig ad also to improve the flexibility ad competitiveess of the labour market. Give the chagig demad for skills, icreasig people s lifelog learig activity, especially those i the workforce, is a vital elemet of Irelad s future skills developmet ad ca have a positive impact o productivity ad iovatio at firm level ad atioally. Idetifyig the future skills eeds for Irelad is clearly complex. Eve employers themselves experiece ucertaity aroud their future skills requiremets. The provisio of labour market itelligece will deliver maximum impact if it is reviewed ad mediated through structured dialogue with key stakeholders. Give the complexity ad chagig ature of eterprise, occupatios ad the skills required, career guidace ad careers iformatio, for school goers ad adult learers is essetial for good course ad career choices for idividuals. Those that support ad ifluece these decisios also eed easy access to course ad careers iformatio ad this icludes parets, guidace cousellors ad teachers. 04. Irelad s Labour Market: Preset ad Potetial 38 39

21 4. Irelad s Labour Market: Preset ad Potetial Overview of the populatio ad labour market Irelad s populatio is curretly millio. With 1 millio uder the age of 15 the highest proportio i the EU we have clear potetial to create a iteratioal competitive advatage through the availability of a well-skilled workforce. Irelad s overall profile as a youg populatio meas that 60% of those i the labour force today will still be eligible workers i This raises challeges for the educatio ad traiig system i balacig the eeds of school goig studets, school leavers, the uemployed ad those i employmet who eed to upskill or reskill. Populatio 4,644,300 Profile of those i employmet 2,186,000 people are curretly i the labour force; of these, 1,983,000 are i work, this correspods to a atioal employmet rate of 64%, broke dow ito 70% for males ad 58% for females. 323,000 people are self employed, which correspods to just over 16% of those i work i Irelad. As the ecoomy grows ad evolves, those i employmet will similarly have growig ad evolvig educatio ad traiig eeds. Due to the speed of techological chage ad its impact o busiess processes, upskillig icreasigly matters for everyoe i employmet, regardless of their occupatio or existig educatioal level. Although this will be a particular challege for those with less formal educatio, ad particularly, as highlighted earlier, those whose highest level of educatio attaimet is at NFQ levels 1 3. Figure 4 Employmet (15+) by highest level of educatio attaied (NFQ levels), q % 90% 80% Childre (<15) 1,031,100 Workig age populatio (15-64) 3,002, ad older 611,100 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% NFQ 10 NFQ 9 NFQ 8 NFQ 7 NFQ 6 NFQ 4/5 20% NFQ 3 I employmet full-time 1,495, 400 Seekig full time employmet 173,900 I employmet part-time 420,600 Uemployed (ILO) 201,800 Seekig part time employmet 20,800 Not i employmet 1,086,300 Source: SLMRU, SOLAS, aalysis of CSO QNHS Q Note: Discrepacies are due to roudig. Studet 319,700 Seekig employmet as self employed 7,100 Ill health/ disability 106,300 Other 106,300 I employmet full-time) 38,800 Ecoomically Iactive 884,500 Not i employmet 544,000 Home duties 291,400 Retired 60,700 10% 0% Maagers Professioals Source: SLMRU, SOLAS Associate Professioals Admiistrative Skilled trades Persoal services Sales ad customer care NFQ 1/2 NFQ 1 Iitiatives such as Sprigboard ad Mometum have show that people do ot eed a full NFQ award to Step Up their skills. Ofte a itesive short course, a course at the same level i a differet disciplie coupled with work experiece is eough to kick-start someoe s etry ad progressio i workforce. Opportuities to reskill or upskill ca take a rage of forms icludig o the job traiig, short courses, idustry certificatio ad formal educatio ad traiig programmes. The educatio ad traiig system must remai resposive to the chagig eeds of the labour market ad provide a coheret, flexible portfolio of opportuities to meet the eeds of idividuals ad employers. Operative Elemetary 40 41

22 Not all of this very valuable upskillig ad reskillig will be captured i reportig o employmet by NFQ levels, however, the data o employmet by NFQ level remais valuable i helpig us to better uderstad how skills are beig used i the workforce ad to iform dialogue betwee employers ad educatio ad traiig providers o appropriate provisio. Ecoomically iactive 30% or almost 900, people of workig-age are defied as beig ecoomically iactive. Nearly 300,000 of this cohort are occupied with home duties ad approximately 350,000 are studets. Over 100,000 of the iactive cohort are ot workig due to ill-health or disability. 33% of people of workig age with a disability are i work i Irelad (compared with 66% of people without a disability) ad the ew Comprehesive Employmet Strategy for People with Disabilities , 48 will foster icreased labour market participatio. Educatioal attaimet is a good predictor of labour force activity. 17% of those who are ecoomically iactive hold a third level qualificatio, compared with 33% of those with a higher secodary or PLC qualificatio Not i labour force ( 000) Employmet (000) Uemploymet (000) Labour force (000) UE rate (%) Primary or below Lower secodary Improvig employmet levels The umber of uemployed people has ow falle to approximately 200,000 for the first time sice The uemploymet rate has reached 8.8%, the lowest level sice the ed of 2008 ad dow from a high of over 15% i late This tred is extremely ecouragig. That said, further iroads must be made ito Irelad s uemploymet situatio ad there are particular aspects of those still jobless that stad out. While the log-term uemploymet rate has falle from 6.4% to 5%, this cohort still accouts for 54% of those people out of work 49. Youth uemploymet (15-24 year olds), although reducig, remais uacceptably high at 19.7% (QNHS, Q3, 2015). I additio, the challege faced i reitegratig these log term uemployed people ito the workforce is illustrated by the fact that about 60% of these people have bee uemployed for three years or more, of whom about 70% are males aged over 25. Skills developmet for these cohorts will remai a priority give the lik betwee skills ad employmet. I Q3 2015, the uemploymet rate for people with lower secodary or less educatio was 15.7%, whereas it was 10.8% for those with higher secodary ad fell to 5.1% for those with higher educatio hoours degrees ad higher 50. I the medium term, the fall i uemploymet will eable a shift i activatio policy ad iititatives i the comig years as set out i the Pathways to Work with a shift from activatio i a time of recessio to activatio i a time of recovery ad growth. Higher secodary Post secodary o-tertiary Third level ohoours degree Third level hoours degree or above Other/Not stated Total Ageig populatio i Irelad As well as a sigificat youg populatio, Irelad also has a large ageig populatio. It is forecast that, similar to may other Europea coutries, over the ext te years those movig beyod workig age ito retiremet will grow from the 2011 figure of just over half a millio up to approximately 855,000 by 2026 ad to almost 1.4 millio by The very old (those who are aged at least 80) is set to rise also, from 128,000 i 2011 to approximately 477,000 by I additio, the fall i citizes aged betwee 20 ad 64 will essetially mea that there will be fewer people of workig age. As well as uderliig the role of educatio i supportig older people, these figures mea that there will be a greater per capita requiremet o the Irish labour force to geerate ecoomic activity ad, through that, support the State s evolvig public expediture requiremets particularly i relatio to pesios ad healthcare. Source: CSO Quarterly Natioal Household Survey, Q CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey, Q CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey: Quarter CSO, Quarterly Natioal Household Survey: Quarter

23 l S Migratio Irelad has experieced very sigificat migratio flows i both directios over the last decade. The recessio has resulted i large umbers leavig Irelad i search of work elsewhere. The Natioal Skills Bulleti otes that et outward migratio for Irish atioals cotiued to persist at 29,200 i 2014; although this was a declie of 6,000 compared to 2013 (35,200). The recessio combied with a fall i births i the 1990s, has led to the umber of yearolds i the populatio fallig by 26% or 200,000 betwee Q ad Q O foot of the ecoomic recovery, a umber of iitiatives have bee itroduced to help attract Irish people back home, ad the first Irish diaspora policy, Global Irish 53, was published i O the other had, there have bee substatial umbers of people migratig ito Irelad, may of whom have secured employmet. A total of 7,265 Employmet Permits were issued i 2015, a 32% icrease over The ICT idustry accouted for 2,499, or 34% of all employmet permits issued, with a further 44% of permits issued to healthcare workers. This idicates the cotiuig relevace of the Employmet Permits system i addressig the skills shortages relevat to eterprise, particularly i the ICT area. I Focus - studets, employers ad educators - makig it work Every year thousads of studets complete work experiece with employers. There is examples of good practice across the system which highlights the beefits of studets, employers ad educators workig together. For example, Uiversity College Cork has a very successful work placemet model which ivolves structured pre-plaig to maximise the success of the placemet for both studet ad employer. I Year 1, studets get CV ad skills developmet advice ad employers meet studets for the first time. I Year 2 studets beefit from guidace workshops which focus o the studet s selfawareess of their skills ad stregths. I Year 3 employers recruit studets for the available placemets. Studets are give a list of optios to esure they are placed ito idustries i which they are iterested ad suited. This model leads to coversio rate of placemets to recruitmet as high as 80% i some disciplies. Ski l tal e t Irelad s Labour Market - Preset ad Potetial: Opportuities Key Challeges & The growth i the youg populatio presets challeges for the educatio ad traiig system i meetig demad for places ad balacig the eeds of school goig studets, school leavers ad upskillig those already i the workforce. Esurig that people i the labour force with lower levels of formal educatio have the skills that eable them to gai ad maitai employmet will cotiue to be a challege i the comig years. Ecouragig ad supportig labour market activity amog the iactive will provide access to a uderutilised supply of skills. While the uemploymet rate is fallig, log-term uemploymet remais a issue as does youth uemploymet. The likelihood of uemploymet correlates with the level of educatioal attaimet. Access to educatio, icludig for all uder-represeted groups, is therefore cetral to reducig uemploymet levels. Every idividual has a resposibility for their ow skills developmet ad career maagemet, however, we recogise that some people require more support i accessig educatio ad traiig opportuities. The umbers leavig ad eterig Irelad are havig a major effect o this coutry i may ways. Retur, as well as ew, migrats provide a opportuity for Irelad to repleish its talet pool. I Galway-Mayo Istitute of Techology, the Hotel School ru a very successful work placemet module for all Level 7 ad 8 awards that icludes a particular focus o studets reflectig o their experiece. Whe placemets are fiished, studets complete a formal busiess report o their experiece ad this report is graded. This report, coupled with post-placemet meetigs with GMIT staff, facilitates co-ordiated ad structured reflectio o the studet s placemet experiece. This sigificatly ehaces the learig outcomes for the studet, istitutio ad the employer ad feeds ito further learig ad developmet of the module. 51 SOLAS & Expert Group o Future Skills Needs, Natioal Skills Bulleti 2015, 52 SOLAS & Expert Group o Future Skills Needs, Moitorig Irelad s Skills Supply, 2015,

24 Educatio ad Traiig i Irelad The raiso d être of Irelad s educatio ad traiig system is to equip people with the skills ad kowledge that will best help them as they move through life. Across the various stages of a perso s formal educatio ad traiig (their early childhood, school years ad learig beyod school), Irelad has performed strogly durig the course of the existig Towards Tomorrow s Skills Strategy. 54 Durig the recet ecoomic crisis, educatio ad traiig providers at all levels, both public ad private, have demostrated impressive resposiveess to the chagig employmet circumstaces ad reductio i available resources. Demographics have also icreased the pressure o the system with full-time erolmets icreasig by over 171,000 i the last decade ad erolmets cotiue to icrease. This ew skills strategy is also beig developed i the cotext of sigificat reform i the educatio ad traiig sector to esure a more dyamic, resposive ad high quality system that provides all learers with the kowledge ad skills they eed to participate fully i society ad the ecoomy. The reform programme recogises the importace of all levels of educatio ad traiig as itegral elemets of a framework for lifelog learig ad skills developmet which starts through quality early childhood provisio ad is cotiually developed durig school years ad i learig beyod school. The educatioal support that childre receive i their earliest years is globally recogised as pivotal to their log-term persoal developmet. Results from the OECD s Programme for Iteratioal Studet Assessmet 55 (PISA) show that, i most coutries, pupils who have atteded pre-primary educatio programmes ted to perform better at age 15 tha those who have ot. Early childhood educatio also plays a importat role i mitigatig social iequalities. 05. Educatio ad Traiig i Irelad The reforms cetre o four key themes: Learig for Life, Quality ad Accoutability, Iclusio ad Diversity ad Systems & Ifrastructure. 56 The programme cosists of a set of ambitious whole of system reforms at every level. Particularly relevat to the developmet of the Natioal Skills Strategy are the curriculum reforms uderway ad iitiatives related to improvig quality, accoutability ad iclusio. Learig for Life quality ad Accoutability Iclusio ad Diversity Systems ad Ifrastructure

25 48 IMPROVING PERFORMANCE IN EARLY YEARS AND LEARNING IN SCHOOLS The Natioal Literacy ad Numeracy Strategy ( ) 57, published i 2011, drives the implemetatio of a programme of reform focused o curriculum, assessmet ad teachig practices to uderpi a high quality, relevat learer experiece ad to ehace learig outcomes i early years settigs, primary ad post-primary schools. May of the targets set i the origial strategy have already bee met. A iterim review of the strategy is curretly uderway, which will see ew targets developed. It will focus i particular o sub-groups of studets (such as those i schools categorised as the most disadvataged) where greater improvemets i literacy ad umeracy stadards are required. The fudametal priciples of the strategy cotiue to provide a framework for reform of curriculum, assessmet ad teachig practices i early years settig ad i primary ad post-primary schools. NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE LITERACY The 2014 Natioal Assessmets of Eglish Readig ad Mathematics by the Educatioal Research Cetre (ERC) 58 foud that the skills at both 2d class ad 6th class pupils are sigificatly higher tha they were whe previously assessed i Notably, they represet the first major improvemet i the atioal assessmet of readig ad maths stadards i over 30 years. I readig at primary level, Irish studets scored sigificatly above the iteratioal average i the Progress i Iteratioal Readig Literacy Study (PIRLS) , with Irish studets raked 10th out of 45 participatig coutries. Studets i oly five coutries performed sigificatly better tha Irish studets. I PISA 2012, Irish15-year-old studets readig ability both digital ad prit - is ahead of that of other coutries: rakig 4th out of 34 OECD coutries i prit readig ad 5th out of 23 participatig OECD coutries i digital readig. MATHEMATICS I Treds i Iteratioal Mathematics ad Sciece Study (TIMSS) , Irish primary studets scored sigificatly above the iteratioal average i maths with Irelad placed 17th out of 50 participatig coutries although their performace was well below that of studets i the top performig coutries. At post-primary, a critical focus of performace improvemet relevat to the Natioal Skills Strategy cetres o mathematics. New curricula for Juior ad Seior Cycle maths (commoly called Project Maths ) have ow bee fully implemeted. Bous poits are available for cadidates achievig a D grade or higher i the Higher Level Leavig Certificate maths, whe calculatig CAO poits. The ew mathematics curriculum was examied fully for the first time by SEC i 2015 ad the results are curretly uder review. The umber of studets takig higher level Maths has icreased from 16% i 2010 to 28% i Overall, outcomes from PISA 2012 idicate that Irelad s 15-year olds perform above the OECD average but ot at the highest levels. However, the 2012 roud of PISA idicated that studets who had studied 57 Learig-For-Life.pdf the Project Maths curriculum performed at a higher level tha those who had ot had that opportuity, ad it is expected that this improvemet will cotiue i subsequet years. SCIENCE The study of sciece forms part of the core curriculum at primary level. While also above iteratioal averages, Irelad s primary level sciece performace lags behid our prowess i readig ad maths. I sciece i TIMSS 2011, Irish studets scored above the iteratioal average ad were placed 22d out of the 50 participatig coutries. At secod level, i Juior Cycle, the umbers takig sciece has icreased from approximately 50,000 i 2011 to approximately 54,000 i 2015 a 7% icrease. I that time period there has bee a greater icrease of those takig higher level sciece, from 38,000 to early 43,000, a icrease of almost 12% 61. At Leavig Certificate level, Biology, Physics, chemistry ad physics/chemistry have all see icreases of betwee 12 ad 17 percet i the umber of Leavig Certificate studets from 2011 to However, there are sigificat differeces i the level of subject take-up at Leavig Certificate with 61% of studets takig Biology, while oly 16% ad 13% take Chemistry ad Physics respectively. I PISA 2012, Irelad s performace i sciece emerges very favourably, largely due to curriculum developmet i this area. Furthermore, more Irish studets are performig at the higher levels of sciece whe compared to their iteratioal couterparts. Further progress is required to secure a cotiuig improvemet i the performace of Irish studets i this ad other iteratioal bechmark measures of performace. STUDENT RETENTION Whe it comes to leavig school, retetio of studets to Leavig Certificate is at 90.6%, ahead of the 90% target set for Recet improvemets have bee supported with a sigificat improvemet i the retetio of studets i disadvataged schools, which has grow from 68.2% te years ago to 82.1% of those eterig secod-level school i EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION Early Childhood Care ad Educatio (ECCE) is at a pivotal poit of developmet i Irelad with the free pre-school scheme due to be expaded i 2016 to provide a free pre-school place for all eligible childre from the age of three util they start school. The phasig i of supports to eable childre with disabilities fully participate i pre-school care ad educatio will also commece durig A ew affordable childcare subvetio scheme is also beig developed through which ay icreased Govermet ivestmet i subvetig childcare ca be distributed. The educatioal focus i ECCE is o implemetatio of the curriculum framework Aistear 64 ad its four themes, focused o the early developmet of trasversal skills: Explorig ad Thikig, Wellbeig, Idetity ad Belogig, ad Commuicatig. I additio, there are umber of iitiatives to improve quality icludig the implemetatio of the quality framework Siolta 65 ; roll-out ad expasio of the Better Start Early Years Specialist Service to support quality 61 Source: State Examiatios Commissio 62 Source: State Examiatios Commissio 63 Level-Schools-2008-Cohort.pdf

26 improvemet; rollout of educatio-focused early years ispectios; ehacemet of the existig Tusla statutory ispectio; ivestmet i upskillig the workforce ad a review of qualificatios for the early years educatio ad care workforce. Rollout of the curriculum framework ad improvig the quality of provisio will uderpi the developmet of trasversal skills from a early age. The ogoig professioalisatio of the workforce i the sector will make a major cotributio to quality improvemet i Early Childhood Care ad Educatio i the comig years. This ageda is beig drive through a developig regulatory framework, fiacial icetives for services to be led by more qualified staff, ad the provisio of sigificat fudig for upskillig practitioers. The forthcomig Early Years Strategy will set out future actios for quality improvemet i the sector. PRIMARY At primary level, a review of the curriculum has commeced with work uderway o laguage developmet, maths ad educatio about religious beliefs ad ethics. A ew itegrated laguages curriculum (Eglish ad Irish) has bee published ad will be itroduced ito ifats to secod classes from September 2016, with the curriculum for 3 rd to 6 th class available from I 2016 the NCCA, i cosultatio with a broad rage of stakeholders, will commece a review of the primary school curriculum. The review will look at, amogst other thigs, the divisio of time across the curriculum. SECOND LEVEL EDUCATION Juior Cycle Curriculum ad assessmet reform i post primary educatio is curretly focused o the reform of the Juior Cycle. I September 2014, implemetatio of the ew Juior Cycle commeced with a ew specificatio i Eglish ad the availability of a umber of short courses. I August 2015, the Framework for Juior Cycle 66 was published which sets out the wide-ragig ad ecessary reforms icludig details of the dual assessmet arragemets that combie schoolbased assessmet ad fial examiatios. Studets will have a moderised curriculum, better learig experieces ad better outcomes. Assessmet will iclude teachers assessig studet learig i the course of the three years of juior cycle ad a reduced fial examiatio which will be set, admiistered ad marked by the State Examiatios Commissio. Subject teachers will assess their studets progress through two classroom-based assessmets (CBAs) ad a writte assessmet task based o the secod CBA will be assessed by the State Examiatios Commissio (SEC). Learig i the Juior Cycle will be iformed by 8 priciples, icludig oe o Creativity ad Iovatio 24 statemets of learig that are cetral to the plaig for, the studets experiece of ad the evaluatio of the school s juior cycle programme. Most of the statemets will ehace the learer s skills developmet 8 key skills which are deemed ecessary for successful learig 66 The developmet of ew Juior Cycle subject specificatios takes a iquiry-based approach ad provides studets with learig opportuities that strike a balace betwee subject-specific kowledge ad a wider rage of skills ad thikig abilities. Learers will be eabled to use ad aalyse kowledge i ew ad creative ways, to ivestigate issues, to explore, to thik for themselves, to be creative i solvig problems ad to apply their learig to ew situatios. Give the rapidly chagig ature of the workplace ad the world, these competeces ad skills are critical to the preparatio of youg people for learig ad livig. Rollout of the ew framework will eable teachers to be istrumetal i supportig studets i learig how to lear, ad i takig resposibility for their ow learig i this key stage of secod level educatio. The full schedule for the phased implemetatio of the ew Juior Cycle is as follows: JUNIOR CYCLE IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE Subjects Other areas Itroduced to 1 st Year Studets i: First recorded o Juior Cycle Profile of Achievemet (JCPA) i: Phase 1: Eglish September 2014 Autum 2017 Phase 2: Sciece ad Busiess Studies September 2016 Autum 2019 Phase 3: Irish, Moder Laguages (Frech, Germa, Spaish, Italia) ad Art, Craft & Desig Phase 4: Mathematics, Home Ecoomics, History, Music ad Geography Phase 5: Techology Subjects (Materials Techology / Wood, Techical Graphics, Metalwork, Techology), Religious Educatio, Jewish Studies ad Classics Wellbeig September 2017 Autum 2020 September 2018 Autum 2021 September 2019 Autum 2022 The replacemet of the existig juior certificate with the ew Juior Cycle Profile of Achievemet, provides ew opportuities. The Profile of Achievemet will record studets progress i all areas, icludig the writte examiatio, the classroom-based assessmets ad other extra-curricular activities. To support the reform, a comprehesive programme of cotiuig professioal developmet for teachers ad pricipals is beig rolled out. This icludes whole-school CPD, subject-specific semiars, semiars for school leaders, teacher-led CPD ad school visits. The programme is also supported by high quality o-lie resources. This meas that teachers are beig provided with all the resources ad supports ecessary to esure that their studets have a successful experiece i the ew juior cycle. This CPD work is beig led by the support service, Juior Cycle for Teachers (JCT), a dedicated team established specifically for this purpose

27 I summary, the reform will recogise a wide rage of learig, reduce the focus o oe termial examiatio i each subject, give promiece ad importace to classroom based assessmet, facilitate greater professioal collaboratio betwee teachers, ad give parets ad studets a broader picture of each studet s learig. SENIOR CYCLE Plaig for implemetatio of chages at Seior Cycle are cotiuig with the phased developmet of revised subject specificatios which is already uderway. However, the rate of chage at Seior Cycle is beig balaced agaist the demads associated with the implemetatio of the Juior Cycle reform i schools. Major reform of iitial teacher educatio 71 is uderway ad traiig provisio is ow beig cocetrated i a smaller umber of quality cetres. The Teachig Coucil will cotiue to progress the quality ageda for teachig i 2016 through further work o the review of etry criteria for iitial teacher educatio programmes, the pilotig of Droichead the ew iductio ad probatio model for ew teachers i 330 schools ad further developmet of a CPD framework for teachers. 72 DEIS, the Actio Pla for Social Iclusio, 73 is curretly beig reviewed icludig the methods by which schools are idetified for iclusio i the programme i future ad the cotet of the school support programme. The review is to be completed i TRANSITION YEAR Aother importat elemet of seior cycle for may studets is Trasitio Year (TY). TY is available to all secod-level schools ad about 550 schools (out of approximately 730 schools) offer the programme. TY may be optioal or madatory for studets depedig o the school s policy. Each school desigs its ow TY Programme, withi guidelies set by the DES, takig accout of the possibilities offered by local commuity iterests for voluteerig, work placemet, etc. The value of Trasitio Year is that it ca provide opportuities for studets ad teachers to iovate ad be creative i the programmes ad learig methods used. Studets also get the opportuity to develop a rage of skills through activities such as voluteerig, work experiece, project work ad participatig i, for example, A Gaisce 67 awards programme. It ca also provide time for studets to go to college ope days, career days ad carry out research o differet course ad career optios. A recet report produced by the Irish Secod-Level Studets Uio 68, shows that 85% of studets feel they leared ew skills durig TY ad the stregths of the programme icluded learig ew skills, work experiece, subject availability ad so o. OTHER KEY INITIATIVES AT SCHOOL LEVEL There are a umber of ew iitiatives that will be rolled out i the period to 2020 ad these iclude: A rage of supports 74 are provided for childre ad studets with special educatioal eeds with a ew model for allocatig resource teachers to support childre with special eeds curretly beig piloted i 47 schools. 75 New models of school ispectio 76 are beig rolled out to icrease the level of ispectio ad to work with those schools most i eed of assistace. A trache of ew ad revised ispectio models will be itroduced i September 2016 that will provide ehaced iformatio to schools ad the public.this will be complemeted by self-evaluatio ad reflective practice 77 withi schools themselves. Research shows that trasitios at all levels are importat poits for esurig that childre ad youg people are supported as they move through the educatio system. There has bee sigificat work o the trasitio from primary to post-primary i the cotext of the Literacy ad Numeracy Strategy. The NCCA is ow begiig work o the trasitio from pre-school to primary. Implemetatio of chages as part of the Trasitios 78 iitiative to improve the trasitio of studets from secod level to higher educatio has led to major policy chages i recet years, icludig the publicatio of a ew CAO poits system 79. It is importat to esure that i future this work o trasitios is cosolidated ad built o to create a seamless learig experiece over the educatio life cycle. I particular, the ogoig work to broade etry routes ito higher educatio ad reduce early course specialisatio will be a cetral part of improvig college retetio levels. The Digital Strategy for Schools which aims to improve the use of ICT i teachig, learig ad assessmet with supportig objectives relatig to teacher professioal developmet, leadership, research ad policy ad developmet of ICT ifrastructure i schools. As well as the ew primary laguage curriculum, a Foreig Laguages i Educatio 70 strategy is beig developed for post-primary, further ad higher educatio Strategy/Foreig-Laguages-Strategy.html 71 Learig-For-Life.pdf Level-To-Higher-Educatio-Implemetatio-ad-Next-Steps.pdf

28 TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT TABLE 5 DEVELOPING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS 0 TO 18 YEARS EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION (AISTEAR) PRIMARY CURRICULUM NEW JUNIOR CYCLE TRANSITION YEAR DEVELOPING TRANSVERSAL SKILLS EXPLORING AND THINKING WELLBEING IDENTITY AND BELONGING COMMUNICATING ABILITY TO QUESTION TO ANALYSE TO INVESTIGATE TO THINK CRITICALLY TO SOLVE PROBLEMS, AND TO INTERACT EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS MANAGING MYSELF STAYING WELL MANAGING INFORMATION AND THINKING BEING CREATIVE WORKING WITH OTHERS COMMUNICATING BEING LITERATE & BEING NUMERATE SUBJECT TASTERS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING (WORK EXPERIENCE & PROJECT WORK) PORTFOLIOS REFLECTIVE JOURNALS RESEARCHING COURSES & CAREERS DEVELOPING SUBJECT SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE IN FOCUS: DEVELOPING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS 0 TO 18 YEARS GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES BECOMING MATHEMATICIANS IN EARLY YEARS A book writte by childre, called Beig ad Becomig Mathematicias Through Play has bee published by Cottage Kids Playschool ad Early Childhood Irelad. The book writte by the childre of Cottage Kids Playschool, explais their kowledge ad their thikig about everyday maths ad how fu maths is to their parets. It illustrates the childre experiecig ad explorig the world aroud them ad developig a geuie uderstadig of maths. It highlights maths as a laguage that helps us commuicate. Aistear s pricipals of early learig ad developmet are based o play ad hads o experieces, active learig ad for the childre to have relevat ad meaigful experieces. The may examples withi the book show how the childre experiece ad explore their world ad i tur develop ad grow their mathematical uderstadig. It provides evidece of the power of play ad how it made learig maths fu. The childre leared about situatios, people, attitudes ad resposes, materials ad properties as they played. The book is a resource for both parets ad other educators as it illustrates how maths ca be taught through everyday play opportuities. SENIOR CYCLE BEING PERSONALLY EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATING CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING INFORMATION PROCESSING WORKING WITH OTHERS SUPPORTING STRATEGIES AND INITIATIVES LITERACY REFORM OF DEIS SPECIAL DIGITAL FOREIGN INTERNAL TRANSITIONS AND TEACHER ACTION EDUCATION STRATEGY LANGUAGES AND REFORM NUMERACY EDUCATION PLAN FOR SUPPORTS FOR STRATEGY EXTERNAL STRATEGY SOCIAL SCHOOLS EVALUATION INCLUSION 54 55

29 DEVELOPING TRANSVERSAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY Ciara Ní Dhrisceoil of Gaelcholáiste Luimigh uses tablets for teachig of chemistry. For example, a class were set ivestigatios ad tasks ad had to capture their work o video i order to assess how well the task was performed ad how it might be improved. Both self ad peer assessmet are used. The teacher provides further feedback to the studets usig aotatios ad soud recordigs of her voice by sharig the fial file with studets. At the ed of the school year, each studet has a comprehesive bak of videos with feedback icluded they ca use to revise for the Leavig Certificate. The use of ICT has improved teachig i learig i the class ad it aids creativity, idepedece, collaboratig ad owership of learig amog the studets. YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS & EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Colaiste Chraobh Abha i Wicklow has a extesive Trasitio Year programme for studets, of which a key focus is Eterprise Educatio. I November each year, the school orgaises a Spirit of Eterprise Week to expose all studets to the world of eterprise ad ecourage them to cosider possible careers i busiess. I 2015, the school lauched the Colaiste Chraobh Abha Youg Etrepreeur pop-up shop. Trasitio Year studets are resposible for the operatio of a retail premises icludig the day to day activities of sales, marketig, productio ad fiace. Five maagers were appoited to source a premises ad everythig else eed to lauch their pop up shop. The shop opeed for te days ad studets sold the products they have desiged ad developed for their mii compaies. Products that the studets have established iclude home bleded teas, childre s books, headphoe devices ad board games to promote the use of Irish to ame a few. The shop took i more tha 5000 while i operatio ad the studets leared valuable skills i busiess teamwork, iovatio ad teacity i order to make the shop a major success i the commuity. DEVELOPING TRANSVERSAL SKILLS WITH ENGLISH, SCIENCE & SCRATCH Elaie Lyos, Christ the Saviour Natioal School, uses Scratch to support work o writig geres. For example, Scratch ad other tools were used to work o a fial draft of procedural writig for Sciece. Scratch facilitates itegratio betwee differet subjects, i this istace, Eglish ad Sciece. Scratch is used to aimate the procedures that are used for iclusio i the writig piece. The studets are also learig trasversal skills such as problem solvig, creative thikig ad braistormig. They are usig mathematical skills to create withi Scratch ad the skills of the maths curriculum shie through. They are also self-assessig usig Scratch. BRINGING LANGUAGES ALIVE IN WEXFORD Germa teacher Tia Killackey from Presetatio Secodary School, Wexford uses apps to support laguage learig skills of readig, listeig, writig ad speakig (oral laguage). The relatioship has chaged with her class as a result of embeddig the use of ICT - they are cofacilitators of learig. Quizlet is used i formative assessmet for ogoig self ad peer assessmet. Notes are take usig Notability to aid revisio ad ca be shared easily ulike paper otebooks. Soud files ca also be recorded withi the app ad this aids laguage acquisitio ad caters for studets with differet levels of ability. Book creator empowers studets to create their ow multimedia cotet so their laguage skills ca be demostrated through the use of text, images, soud ad video as appropriate. Ogoig feedback is gathered from the studets usig Socrative so the teacher ca differetiate teachig approaches, methodologies, cotet ad teacher desiged tasks ad tests based o the skill progressio of the class. LEARNING BEYOND SCHOOL Irelad s educatio ad traiig system beyod a perso s school years primarily comprises the further educatio ad traiig (FET) ad higher educatio (HE) sectors. The coherece ad quality of skills developmet uderpis the efficiet ad effective fuctioig of the Irish system. This is grouded i the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios that is maitaied by Quality ad Qualificatios Irelad (QQI). Comprehesive reform of both FET ad HE is uderway ad will cotiue throughout the lifetime of this Strategy. Reforms are steered through the Further Educatio ad Traiig Strategy 80 ad the Higher Educatio Strategy to SOLAS plays a key role i relatio to quality ad accoutability withi the FET sector. A ew fudig model based o performace levels is beig implemeted through the agreemet of aual Further Educatio ad Traiig Service Plas with each of the Educatio ad Traiig Boards. The aual service plas provide the framework for moitorig progress agaist agreed quality ad delivery targets, ad a framework of cotiuous evaluatio will uderpi progress ad developmet. The aim is that oly courses with a positive track record for participats will be fuded goig forward. Courses with less successful outcomes will be adapted, restructured or termiated i favour of other alteratives. Ay other approach would be doig a disservice to learers. Like other areas of provisio, FET is a area where the resposiveess of the sector should be evidet. Ogoig evaluatios must therefore uderpi this approach. I Higher Educatio, the Higher Educatio Authority is leadig o the implemetatio of the Higher Educatio System Performace Framework which ivolves a process of strategic dialogue ad agreemet of compacts with publicly fuded higher educatio istitutios ad the rollout of performace fudig. Irelad s FET ad HE systems have both respoded strogly to atioal eeds durig the ecoomic crisis. I recet years, the two sectors have also committed to implemetig sigificat reforms as well as facig the challege of icreasig demad for places ad decreasig budgets. They are cotiuig to perform strogly, with the availability of a skilled labour force beig a major draw for foreig compaies. Their skills provisio is complemeted by that of private providers who have bee particularly active i the delivery of Sprigboard ad Mometum programmes 83. I doig so, private providers have demostrated good practices i the Recogitio of Prior Learig (RPL) ad these will be icluded i the developmet of system-wide capacity for RPL Systemperformace-Framework pdf

30 Lookig forward, ETBs are ow much better positioed to respod to skill eeds i a flexible way as they have assumed resposibility for the etwork of traiig cetres. This has brought with it a strog etwork of local employer liks, a system for cotractig traiig provisio ad expertise i a wide rage of specific skill areas. This also provides opportuities to maage educatio ad traiig provisio i a co-ordiated way, with a broader rage of programmes to meet the skills requiremets of the local ad regioal ecoomy. Skills profilig ad the developmet of a CPD Strategy for staff deliverig FET programmes i Educatio ad Traiig Boards. The developmet of a Workforce Developmet Strategy to facilitate upskillig of those i employmet. I additio, the Skillets model eables etworks of employers i regios or sectors to come together to determie their commo skill eeds ad procure traiig for their employees. Skillets is co-fuded by the Natioal Traiig Fud ad by employers directly ad has proved to be a flexible ad effective model for compaies of various sizes to meet their short ad medium term skill eeds. Over 60 idividual etworks are curretly operatioal across a wide rage of busiess sectors. Ehaced itegratio, parterships ad syergy betwee FET ad HE, with the iterests of the learer ad employer cetral, is a key elemet of this ew skills strategy; workig together, the sectors ca deliver the skills we eed for sustaiable ecoomic growth. As well as the performace related iitiatives uderway, other skills related iitiatives iclude: The developmet ad rollout of ICT related strategies for HE ad FET: A Roadmap for Ehacemet i a Digital World for HE ad the developmet of a strategy for techology-ehaced learig i FET. Higher Educatio will play a pivotal role i the implemetatio of Iovatio , Irelad s ew strategy for research ad iovatio, icludig support for Irelad s researchers career developmet, for cuttig-edge research activity, icludig iteratioal success, ad for collaboratio with compaies of all sizes; Roll-out of the Irish Research Coucil s 92 updated suite of iitiatives to advace earlystage researcher skills developmet ad to support icreased researcher mobility, with a particular emphasis o its successful employer-facig programmes i keepig with its madate; Reform of the appreticeship system leadig to expasio of idustry ad appretice participatio ad ew idustry-led appreticeships; Roll-out of the Natioal Pla for Equity of Access to Higher Educatio Ogoig roll-out of targeted upskillig ad re-skillig courses via Mometum 84 ad Sprigboard+ 85, icludig those relatig to the ICT Actio Pla 86, to help people lear ew eterprise-relevat skills ad to progress to sustaiable employmet; Progressio of Trasitios Reform 94 to help secod-level studets prepare to eter ad remai i higher educatio; Recofiguratio of the istitutioal ladscape, icludig the establishmet of Techological Uiversities 87 ad the formatio of regioal clusters of higher educatio istitutios; Coclusio of the work of the Expert Group o the Future Fudig of Higher Educatio 95. Itroductio of a professioal developmet framework for teachers i higher educatio 88 with the support of the Natioal Forum for the Ehacemet of Teachig ad Learig 89 ; Level-To-Higher-Educatio-Implemetatio-ad-Next-Steps.pdf 95 Future-Fudig-for-Higher-Educatio.pdf 58 59

31 DEVELOPING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS BEYOND SCHOOL: TEENS TO OLDER PEOPLE PROVIDING FOR A CONTINUUM OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO MEET DIVERSE AND CHANGING NEEDS OF EMPLOYERS AND LEARNERS LEARNING BEYOND SCHOOL: FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT DEVELOPING TRANSVERSAL SKILLS DEVELOPING SUBJECT SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPING TRANSVERSAL SKILLS, CONFIDENCE BUILDING AND PREPARATION FOR FURTHER STUDY OR WORK, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FOR EXAMPLE FURTHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES INCLUDING: ADULT LITERACY, BACK TO EDUCATION INITIATIVE, COMMUNITY EDUCATION, COMMUNITY TRAINING CENTRES, ESOL, OTHER YOUTH PROVISION, ARTS EDUCATION, CO- OPERATION HOURS NOT ALL PROGRAMMES LEAD TO CERTIFICATION. SOME PROGRAMMES ARE ON NFQ AT LEVELS 1 TO 5. OCCUPATION RELATED TRAINING, UPSKILLING AND RESKILLING OPPORTUNITIES AND ADVANCED TECHNICAL SKILLS AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSVERSAL SKILLS FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE) INCLUDING FOR EXAMPLE PUBLICLY FUNDED FET PROGRAMMES SUCH AS : APPRENTICESHIPS, ECOLLEGE, EVENING / BLENDED LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, YOUTHREACH VTOS, LOCAL TRAINING INITIATIVES PLC, PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION, TRAINEESHIPS, SPECIFIC/CUSTOMSED SKILLS TRAINING, MOMENTUM & SPRINGBOARD+, SKILLNETS PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PROVIDERS INCLUDES MAJOR AND MINOR AWARDS ON THE NFQ AT LEVELS 5 TO 8. SOME PROGRAMMES LEAD TO PROFESSIONAL OR INDUSTRY CERTIFICATION VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSVERSAL SKILLS VOCATIONAL, DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC AND INTER- DISCIPLINARY UNDER- GRADUATE PROGRAMMES IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE) NFQ LEVELS 6 TO 8 ADVANCED DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSVERSAL SKILLS VOCATIONAL, DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC AND INTER- DISCIPLINARY POST GRADUATE TAUGHT PROGRAMMES, PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION, CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CUSTOMISED TRAINING AND EXECUTIVE EDUCATION IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION PROVIDERS AND TRAINING PROVIDERS NFQ LEVEL 9 PROGRAMMES, MINOR AWARDS, CREATING AND ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, PROBLEM SOLVING AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSVERSAL SKILLS THROUGH RESEARCH PROGRAMMES POST-GRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAMMES IN HE DOCTORAL STUDIES (INCLUDING PHD) POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS NFQ LEVELS 9 & 10 RESEARCH LED TEACHING, ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, APPLIED RESEARCH TO SOLVE PROBLEMS, INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY AND INNOVATION AND CREATING NEW ENTERPRISE FULL- AND PART-TIME FULL-AND PART TIME, BLENDED LEARNING, SOME DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES, SHORT COURSES, WORK EXPERIENCE FULL- AND PART-TIME COURSES, BLENDED LEARNING, EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (SPORTS, VOLUNTEERING, CLUBS), WORK EXPERIENCE FULL AND PART-TIME COURSES, BLENDED LEARNING, SHORT COURSES, DISTANCE LEARNING, WORK EXPERIENCE, EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES FULL AND PART-TIME, BLENDED LEARNING, WORK EXPERIENCE SUPPORTING STRATEGIES AND INITIATIVES FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING STRATEGY HIGHER EDUCATION STRATEGY REGIONAL SKILLS FORA AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION CLUSTERS SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK FOR HE, STRATEGIC DIALOGUE AND COMPACTS ANNUAL SERVICE PLANS FOR ETBS QA PROCESSES FOR PROGRAMMES AND RECOGNITION OF PROVISION IN THE NFQ HE ENTERPRISE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY CPD STRATEGY FOR ETB TEACHING STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK FOR HE DIGITAL ROADMAP FOR HIGHER EDUCATION EVALUATION OF PROGRAMME OUTCOMES INNOVATION 2020 AND IRC PROGRAMMES 60 61

32 IN FOCUS DEVELOPING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS TEENS TO OLDER PEOPLE GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES WORK-BASED LEARNING The Career Traieeship iitiative has bee developed by SOLAS i collaboratio with Educatio ad Traiig Boards (ETBs) ad eterprise to develop a more effective model of work-based learig, primarily at NFQ levels 4 ad 5, icorporatig best atioal ad iteratioal research ad practice. Networks of Employers have bee created to facilitate parterships betwee ETBs ad employers i idetifyig traiig eeds, desigig the traiig programmes, recruitmet of learers ad delivery of the traiig o ad off the job. The Career Traieeship model of work-based learig is curretly beig piloted with the Hospitality ad Egieerig sectors, with the ivolvemet of seve ETBs. A rage of programmes are i developmet for 2016 with the first Career Traieeship havig commeced i Hospitality i Laois Offaly ETB ad Limerick Clare ETB i the fial quarter of A Career Traieeship i Egieerig is uderway i Cava Moagha ETB. DEVELOPING TECH TALENT ICT Associate Professioal is a ew dual-educatio programme, desiged to provide the ICT idustry with cadidates with idemad techology skills. This model of provisio is a two year programme durig which cadidates attai a Level 6 ICT ad Professioal Developmet Award. They are the bestowed the title of FIT ICT Associate Professioal by the idustry o effectively demostratig the applicatio of skills i the workig eviromet. The first six moths of the course are college based allowig cadidates to acquire the techical skills ad acume required. The remaiig 18 moths are a combiatio of workplace applicatio ad college based learig. This allows cadidates to further their traiig ad apply their skills ad learig to live projects ad tasks withi their sposorig compay. The ICTAP programme is beig rolled out i Dubli, Cork, Galway, Athloe ad Moagha ad FIT are actively egagig with employers to participate o the programme. WIN-WIN PARTNERSHIP Istitute of Techology Carlow has developed a partership with UNUM, a US Fortue 250 compay which provides idustry focused iput ad advice i programme developmet across IT Carlow s suite of computig programmes icludig Degrees, Diplomas ad Masters; joit ivestmet i facilities through the developmet of the UNUM Software Developmet Cetre i IT Carlow; work placemet ad post-programme employmet (almost oe third of UNUM s of the Irish employees are IT Carlow graduates); ad developmet of a collaborative iteratioal FiTech Cetre drive by doctoral ad post-doctoral researchers. Key trasferable busiess skills alog with techical kowledge, from ICT systems maagemet to software developmet to project maagemet ad research, are developed i partership i a model that esures graduates are prepared for employmet i ay iteratioal ICT orgaisatio. I 2015 UNUM expaded its itership programme to iclude Computer Games Developmet learers for the first time ad as a result are icreasigly egaged with gamificatio cocepts those learers brig. INNOVATION IN ACTION Voria Biomaterials is a early stage biomedical compay i the ever-growig biomaterials market based i Galway, Irelad. The compay desig ad develop customized biomaterial solutios to complex cliical problems. A researcher from UCD, Sea McMaho, took up a Employmet Based Post-Graduate Programme award with Voria Biomaterials with fudig provided by the Irish Research Coucil. This opportuity has created a wi-wi situatio. The programme has provided the compay with a opportuity to ivest more i iovative techologies. Dr Udo Greiser, Voria Biomaterials has commeted that This employmet based scholarship has supported Sea to develop a key platform techology withi our compay which is ow a corerstoe to our compay ad has yielded multiple kock o products with cliical/evirometal ad cost based advatages over competitors. Sea McMaho has bee able to apply his research ad use advaced facilities i UCD alog with equipmet ad resources i Voria to deliver real iovatio for the medical marketplace. This program has allowed me to combie the best of academic frotlie sciece with the resources ad commitmet a compay has to product realisatio. It is the structure ad support from this program that paved a eviromet for me to achieve ad deliver real iovatio. Sea McMaho, IRC Employmet Based Postgraduate Programme Scholar DEVELOPING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS Five uiversities have completed or are curretly carryig out uiversity-wide iitiatives explicitly addressig graduate outcomes i terms of skills ad other attributes. This is part of each uiversity s ogoig efforts to esure quality ad relevace of all studet learig. Oe such iitiative is Geeratio 21 i Dubli City Uiversity. Geeratio 21 is a programme of iitiatives aimed at shapig DCU graduates ito well-rouded idividuals, ready to make a impact o society ad o the workforce. The programme provides opportuities for work placemet, study abroad ad credit for excellece i extra-curricular egagemet. DCU staff have worked with idustry to idetify the key skills ad competecies studets eed to develop durig their time at the Uiversity i order to become well-rouded graduates ready to make a impact o society ad o the workforce. These DCU Graduate Attributes ow form a itegrated part of the degree programmes at DCU, allowig studets to develop them i a itegrated ad cosistet way. The latest i the iitiatives developed uder Geeratio 21 is the DCU eportfolio, a olie tool which provides studets with a structured olie eviromet to develop ad moitor their developmet durig their time at the Uiversity ad beyod. This tool will become the studet's ow learig space, documetig their academic, persoal ad professioal developmet at DCU

33 5.5 INTERNATIONALISATION AND LANGUAGES The Irish educatio ad traiig system plays a key role i forgig crucial global relatioships ad buildig iteratioal outlook ad awareess. Oe of the core ambitios of the Natioal Strategy for Higher Educatio to is to support the developmet of iteratioallyorieted, globally competitive istitutios, ad this is oe of the seve atioal priorities set out for the higher educatio system i the System Performace Framework 97. I particular, iteratioal mobility ca play a importat part i skills developmet. The mobility of Irish studets, staff ad researchers, ad the itercultural experiece which this provides, assists i the developmet of laguage ad other core skills. The Europea Commissio s target of esurig that at least 20% of those who graduate i 2020 udertake a study or traiig period abroad is also icluded i the System Performace Framework referred to earlier. I 2011/ % of NFQ level 8 graduates studied or udertook a placemet abroad. This is i lie with the Europea average. The majority of Higher Educatio studets curretly studyig overseas do so as part of the EU s mobility programme, Erasmus+ 98. The programme allows for studets to sped a period abroad either studyig at a Uiversity or udertakig a work placemet i EU coutries, or oe of a umber of parter coutries. I additio, opportuities also exist through Erasmus+ for mobility for academic ad support staff, ad the Marie Skłodowska-Curie 99 actios withi the Horizo 2020 programme are supportig Irish researchers i gaiig iteratioal experiece. Implemetatio of a ew Iteratioal Educatio Strategy, due to be published shortly, ad through actios i the area of iteratioalisatio of educatio, will further ecourage the attractio of talet from aroud the world to our high quality educatio istitutios ad provide opportuities to sed our taleted studets, researchers ad academics to our parter istitutios. The ew strategy will support ad reflect the actios ad recommedatios of this Strategy where appropriate. EMPLOYER SATISFACTION WITH GRADUATES The recet Employer Survey 100, completed i Q4 2014, idicates that employers who respoded have a high level of satisfactio with FET ad HE graduate recruits across a rage of persoal ad workplace attributes, icludig computer ad techical literacy, workig effectively with others ad umeracy/processig umerical data. However, lower rates of satisfactio were recorded for graduate attributes related to busiess acume, etrepreeurship ad foreig laguages. Other cocers raised i various fora ad i the submissios received durig the cosultatio process for the developmet of the ew skills strategy iclude the resposiveess of educatio ad traiig providers to emergig employer eeds ad the quatity of graduates i STEM disciplies ad i particular ICT graduates. As outlied above, there are a umber of iitiatives uderway across the educatio ad traiig sector that relate to these issues icludig the developmet of the Foreig Laguages i Educatio Strategy, the developmet of the Regioal Skills Fora ad the implemetatio of the ICT Actio Pla However, withi each of these issues are a complex set of variables that the educatio ad traiig system ca cotribute to resolvig but caot resolve aloe. For istace, employers ad other stakeholders eed to raise awareess of the eed for particular laguages combied with other skillsets (e.g. ICT ad Germa or Spaish ad Marketig) ad the level of competece required for particular occupatios. More also eeds to be doe to address the cultural issues aroud laguage acquisitio. Employers eed to egage with educatio ad traiig providers to create a shared uderstadig of their skills eeds ad how they ca be addressed. Careers i STEM eed to be promoted, particularly to wome. STUDENT EXPERIENCE OF FET & HE I the area of FET, a survey is commissioed by SOLAS every two years to ivestigate the destiatios of former FÁS traiees oce they have completed their courses. The most recet survey was carried out i Q amog the traiees who had exited these programmes twelve moths previously. I the course of the survey, traiees are asked whether they would speak highly of their course to others. Satisfactio rates were high amog those respodig to the survey, with over 80% of all traiees otig that they would speak highly to others of the course they had udertake. I additio, the results of the Irish Survey of Studet Egagemet (ISSE) 102, published i November 2015, showed broad satisfactio amog HE studets with their experiece. 68% of all participatig studets reported positive relatioships with teachig staff, fidig them to be Higher-Educatio.pdf

34 available, helpful ad sympathetic (a score of 5 or greater o 7 poit scale) ad 79% of all participatig studets selected good or excellet, whe asked how they would evaluate their etire educatioal experiece at their istitutio. 63% of all participatig studets selected ofte or very ofte, whe asked if they were improvig kowledge ad skills that will cotribute to their employability. Educatio ad Traiig : Key Challeges ad Opportuities The cotiuig demographic demad coupled with the fiacial crisis have bee placig a strai o resources at all levels. Early years ad school curriculum reform ad relevat supportig iitiatives are uderway, icludig major Juior Cycle reform. It will be imperative for developig relevat skills i the future labour force that these reforms are fully implemeted. Teachers are cetral to realisig this opportuity ad appropriate iitial teacher educatio alog with cotiuig professioal developmet for them throughout their careers will uderpi Irelad s future educatioal success. Natioal ad iteratioal bechmarks show that Irish studets perform well across a rage of measures, particularly readig ad literacy. However, there is room for improvemet i maths ad sciece. As described i Sectio 3, digital competece cuts across most disciplies ad full implemetatio of the Digital Strategy for Schools ad progress o digitisatio i FET ad HE are eeded for studets future progress ad participatio. Iclusive educatio is a fudametal priciple of our educatio system ad esures that the educatio system at all levels is desiged to address the eeds of the wide diversity of childre accessig the school system. A more joied up approach to social iclusio is curretly uder developmet to support the iclusio of childre from disadvataged backgrouds ad uderrepreseted groups. Better aligmet betwee the FE ad HE sectors, greater collaboratio ad a uderstadig of the complemetarity of provisio ad progressio pathways betwee providers is paramout, while maitaiig quality throughout. The eeds of studets ad employers must be cetral i the delivery of programmes across these sectors. Withi higher educatio, the quality of the research eviromet uderpis the developmet of Irelad s ext geeratio of researchers, may of whom will move ito idustry as well as ito roles across the public sector such as ito cliical research ad public policy research. It also supports the talet developmet of all the studets erolled across the coutry. 06. Objectives ad Actios 66 67

35 Objectives ad Actios Our Visio is that Irelad will be reowed at home ad abroad as a place where the talet of our people thrives through: The quality ad relevace of our educatio ad traiig base, which is resposive to the chagig ad diverse eeds of our people, society ad the ecoomy; The stregth of relatioships ad trasfer of kowledge betwee employers, educatio ad traiig providers, ad all sectios of society, ad the resultig impact o how people are prepared for life ad work; The quality of our workforce a atio of people armed with relevat kowledge, etrepreeurial agility ad aalytical skills; The effective use of skills to support ecoomic ad social prosperity, ad to ehace the well-beig of our coutry; The effective use of techology to support talet ad skills provisio, to grow eterprise ad to ehace the lives of all withi society. Realisig this visio will beefit Irelad i the followig ways: It will improve people s lives It will make Irelad a better place to live ad to work It will drive sustaiable ecoomic growth. Improvig people s lives Better skills eables citizes to participate more successfully i social, civic ad workig life. OECD data show that higher educatioal attaimet levels are associated with higher wellbeig outcomes ot oly i terms of jobs ad earigs, but also social coectios ad subjective wellbeig. The world i which we live is becomig a very differet place from twety, or eve te, years ago. The explosio of digital techology has massive repercussios for may aspects of a perso s life icludig ad beyod the workig eviromet. Techology s pervasiveess meas that people of all ages icreasigly eed to be techologically literate i order to participate fully i society. The ageig populatio must be able to use techology if they are to cotiue to live as idepedetly as possible, for example through olie supermarket shoppig ad olie bakig. Techological developmets such as those progressed i the area of e- health will oly be truly helpful if those less able, icludig yet ot limited to the elderly, are supported to uderstad it, to feel comfortable with it ad to use it to improve their daily lives. Makig Irelad a better place to live ad work Educatio has a importat societal fuctio i tacklig social exclusio ad its cosequeces. It has helped to improve uderstadig of other cultures ad to itegrate people ito their ew commuities. The Europea Commissio highlights that Equippig people for employmet is oly part of the picture. Educatio has a equally importat role to play i creatig a better society. Well-educated people are less at risk of margialisatio ad social exclusio. Effective educatio is about iclusiveess, esurig every citize has a opportuity to develop their talets ad to feel part of a shared future 103. The OECD Survey of Adult Skills 104 fids that idividuals with better literacy levels are more likely to report good health, to believe that they have a impact o political processes ad to participate i associative or voluteer activities. At a sectoral level, the better the skills capability of critical areas such as Health ad Educatio, the better the experiece of the recipiets, i.e. the citizes. This i tur has a kock-o effect i makig Irelad a attractive locatio iteratioally i which to live ad work. Drivig sustaiable ecoomic growth Now more tha ever we see that a coutry s ecoomic performace depeds o the skills of its people. Havig a workforce with high-quality relevat skills is key to productivity ad iovatio ad well-skilled people are accordigly cetral to the success of the ecoomy. They are oe of the primary attractios for foreig-owed firms cosiderig ivestig here ad for drivig idigeous eterprise developmet. Strategy Implemetatio: a shared resposibility Implemetatio of this strategy requires egagemet from learers, employers, educators, govermet departmets ad agecies. Employers ca play a crucial role i esurig that studets i Irelad are studyig the most relevat cotet ad are developig the most appropriate skills for the chagig 21st cetury workplace. For example, work experiece opportuities for studets are icreasigly recogised as key elemets of their developmet ad ifluecers of career choices. More ad more employers are also callig for experieced graduates. Logically, i order to achieve this, more work placemets eed to be offered by compaies. Employers ca also be very ifluetial i course desig ad cotet ad ca help to deliver these through, for istace, givig guest lectures to studets. They also have a strog role to play i careers iformatio ad advice. The 103 Europea Commissio, November 2015, Educatio ad Traiig Moitor 104 www

36 ature of may job opportuities may ot be familiar to may teachers, studets ad, ideed parets. Compaies ca do a lot to help their ow skills eeds by makig people more aware of what they do ad the type of people ad skillsets they recruit. Fially, employers have a clear role ad resposibility i respect of their ow employees, through upskillig ad lifelog learig. Employers ad the self-employed ca also esure skills are used effectively to drive productivity ad iovatio. Irelad s labour market ejoys several strog potetial competitive advatages. We have a high proportio of youg people, our employmet levels have bee icreasig i recet years ad there is a sigificat pool of skilled Irish ad foreig migrats that we ca tap ito. To maximise the impact of these assets our people Irelad eeds to icrease its lifelog learig levels substatially. Each perso eeds, to the best of their particular capabilities, to egage i cotiuous skills developmet. This may be formal or less formal, withi a educatioal eviromet or withi the workplace. To achieve this, provisio eeds to be fully accessible throughout the year ad through the coutry. Such provisio will of course oly be successful whe people believe i the value of lifelog learig ad act o this. Durig the recet ecoomic crisis, educatio ad traiig providers at all levels of educatio ad i both public ad private sectors, have demostrated impressive resposiveess to the chagig employmet circumstaces. Eve with the welcome ascet recovery, it remais icumbet o all providers to maitai such agility ad to maistream good practices. This collaborative approach to the Strategy s implemetatio will icrease the returs o public ivestmet through for istace: Strategic Objectives Drawig o iteratioal good practice as maifested i the OECD skills framework 105, Irelad s skills strategy for the ext te years will prioritise progress o the followig outcomes: 1 Educatio ad traiig providers will place a stroger focus o providig skills developmet opportuities that are relevat to the eeds of learers, society ad the ecoomy 2 Employers will participate actively i the developmet of skills ad make effective use of skills i their orgaisatios to improve productivity ad competitiveess 3 The quality of teachig ad lerarig at all stages of educatio ad traiig will be cotiually ehaced ad evaluated 4 People across Irelad will egage more i lifelig learig 5 There will be a specific focus o active iclusio to support participatio i educatio ad traiig ad the labour market 6 We will support a icrease i the supply of skills to the labour market The actios outlied below to advace each of these will be uderpied by atioal ad iteratioal research, evaluatio ad bechmarkig, ad will be supported by a ehaced atioal ad regioal skills architecture. Developig Relevat Skills Employer Participatio i Developmet ad Use of Skills Improved traslatio ad mediatio of skills itelligece ito provisio through the Regioal Skills Fora; Greater aligmet betwee the further educatio ad traiig ad higher educatio sectors; Ecouragig employers to collaborate with educatio ad traiig providers ad play a stroger role i relevat skills developmet; Better career guidace ad careers iformatio leadig to more appropriate study choices resultig i better course retetio; Ski I tadem with these improved returs, additioal ivestmet is required i certai areas to address specific issues icludig curriculum reform, teacher educatio, the developmet of appreticeships, icreased demad for higher educatio, icreasig capacity i the system ad ivestig i ICT to uderpi the delivery of more flexible learig opportuities. I all istaces, ivestmet will be made agaist clearly agreed deliverables, moitorig ad evaluatio processes. l l S e tal t Supply of Skills to the Labour Market Active Iclusio to Support Participatio Natioal Skills Strategy Quality of Teachig ad Learig ad Evaluatio Life Log Learig

37 Objectives Objective 1 Educatio ad traiig providers will place a stroger focus o providig skills developmet opportuities that are relevat to the eeds of learers, society ad the ecoomy Objective 2 Employers will participate actively i the developmet of skills ad make effective use of skills i their orgaisatios to improve productivity ad competitiveess Objective 3 The quality of teachig ad learig at all stages of educatio ad traiig will be cotiually ehaced ad evaluated Objective 4 People across Irelad will egage more i lifelog learig Objective 5 There will be a specific focus o active iclusio to support participatio i educatio ad traiig ad the labour market Objective 6 We will support a icrease i the supply of skills to the labour market Key Actios 1. Studets at all stages will lear 21st Cetury Skills. 2. Participatio i STEM educatio will grow. 3. Beyod school, there will be ehaced itegratio, parterships ad syergy betwee the FET ad HE sectors. 1. Employers will participate i skills developmet through active collaboratio with educatio ad traiig providers. 2. The capability of SMEs will be ehaced through skills developmet. 3. Workforce plaig i the public sector will be improved. 4. We will promote research ad iovatio activities. 5. Improved employer participatio will stregthe the promotio ad commuicatio of career opportuities. 1. Quality will be embedded i the delivery of Early-years services. 2. We will improve teachig ad learig i schools by ivestig i high quality teacher educatio ad evaluatio. 3. FET ad HE will provide high quality learig experieces leadig to better outcomes. 1. The beefits of lifelog learig will be promoted ad commuicated to the full populatio of Irelad. 2. There will be more ad easier opportuities for those i employmet to egage i educatio ad traiig. 3. There will be greater recogitio of workplace learig ad capacity for recogitio of prior learig will be developed. 4. Career guidace will be stregtheed sigificatly, with the aid of employer egagemet. 1. Disadvataged ad uder-represeted groups will be supported to participate i educatio ad traiig. 2. Jobseekers will be supported to fid the best possible job. 3. Older workers will be ecouraged to remai active i the labour market. 4. Ecoomically iactive ad uder-represeted groups will be helped to icrease their labour market participatio. 1. Iteratioal migrats with i-demad skills will be attracted to Irelad. 2. There will be icreased mobility of higher educatio researchers ito idustry. 3. Irish emigrats will be ecouraged to retur home to meet the skills demad. OBJECTIVE 1: EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS WILL PLACE A STRONGER FOCUS ON PROVIDING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THE NEEDS OF LEARNERS, SOCIETY AND THE ECONOMY A key objective of this Strategy is that people i Irelad have the opportuity to gai the most up-to-date kowledge across all disciplies ad to acquire the most relevat skills for active participatio i work ad society. Learig across school subjects will be fostered i order to eable people progress i a icreasigly iter-discipliary world ad to ecourage ew ad critical thikig. ACTION 1.1: STUDENTS AT ALL STAGES WILL LEARN 21 ST CENTURY SKILLS Over the course of this Strategy, studets at all stages of educatio ad traiig will be taught a strog mix of trasversal skills ad subject kowledge. Trasversal skills ca be described ad defied i may ways. They are sometimes referred to as employability skills, soft skills ad trasferrable skills. They ca refer to commuicatios, resiliece, creativity ad problem-solvig. The Europea Commissio 106 also ecompasses laguage proficiecy, mathematical competece ad ICT skills i its defiitio of trasversal skills. As Table 5 i Chapter 5 illustrates, there is already a strog focus o trasversal skills developmet i the schools curriculum ad this is cotiued i the FET ad HE sectors. At secod level, curricula reforms are strogly cocetrated o this issue ad it is a cetral feature of the Juior Cycle reform ow uderway. Particular emphasis is beig placed o ICT skills, laguage proficiecy ad etrepreeurship i light of their importace to employability, persoal developmet ad civic participatio. This will be supported by the implemetatio of the ew Digital Strategy for Schools ( ) 107, the completio of a Etrepreeurship Educatio Policy Statemet that will iform the developmet of etrepreeurship educatio guidelies for schools ad the publicatio ad implemetatio of a Foreig Laguages i Educatio Strategy. This work will be sigificatly progressed i The deepeed focus o trasversal skills developmet is ot i ay way detractig from the quality of subject cotet throughout schools. Ideed, the thrust of the reform uderway ad i plaig is to esure that improved trasversal skills are balaced with the most up-to-date ad relevat subject kowledge so that studets emerge as rouded ad well equipped as possible. For example, withi higher educatio, udergraduate formatio is supported by the surroudig research eviromet

38 ACTION 1.2: PARTICIPATION IN STEM EDUCATION WILL GROW Eterprise policy i Irelad is strogly orieted towards kowledge-itesive idustries ad there will be a icreasig demad for people with STEM related skills ad qualificatios, at a rage of levels across differet sectors of the ecoomy. For istace, uder Iovatio 2020, research persoel withi eterprise is forecast to icrease from 25,000 to 40,000 by These persoel will fall across a spectrum of qualificatio levels from techicias through to doctoral graduates. I additio, Iovatio 2020 is targetig a icrease i research studet erolmets i order to icrease Irelad s pipelie of early-stage researchers. Across the system, STEM educatio is growig ad ew developmets will be rolled out i the comig years to support both improved performace i STEM ad greater participatio. This icludes: I additio, expasio of the existig rage of programmes offered uder the Appreticeship system, will see ew appreticeships i the area of Iformatio Techology, Maufacturig ad Egieerig. However, withi the overall positive performace ad icreasig focus o STEM, there are issues that eed to be addressed if Irelad is to further develop as iteded as a kowledge-itesive society ad ecoomy. Female participatio i certai fields such as maths ad egieerig are lower tha male participatio. Eve i subjects like biology ad medicie where females are well represeted at udergraduate levels, there is a deterioratio i participatio at more seior research levels. The extesio of the Athea Swa Awards 110 to Irelad is aimed at brigig attetio to this issue. The Geder Equality Review 111 uderway by the Higher Educatio Authority will also iform future policy i this regard. The Primary School Mathematics Curriculum for Juior Ifats to Sixth Class was itroduced i 1999 ad the NCCA is curretly reviewig the curriculum to esure its cotiued relevace. The ew Juior Cycle Sciece Curriculum will be itroduced to 1 st Year studets i September Programmig ad Codig ad Digital Media Literacy Modules are already available at Juior Cycle ad the recetly published Digital Strategy for Schools ( ) aims to embed the use of digital techologies i teachig, learig ad assessmet at school level ad i teacher educatio. The Strategy will support the developmet of ew opportuities for learers to udertake i-depth study of ICT i the Seior Cycle. The Trasitio Year module Havig Fu with Computer Programmig ad Games will be expaded atioally. PDST Techology i Educatio 108 is providig term time ad summer courses for teachers who wish to explore Scratch 109 programmig at both primary ad secod level. Implemetatio of the ICT Actio Pla is supportig a icrease i the supply of ICT graduates with the the total umber of graduates from ICT courses havig doubled sice I additio, studets at all levels ca be supported to apply their creativity ad curiosity to scietific issues. They will be ecouraged to cosider sciece ad techology withi a wider cotext ad to draw i isights from other studies such as the humaities, for example through cross-discipliary project work. Optios ca also be offered for STEM studets to take o- STEM elective subjects that pique their curiosity. This crossover of arts-related subjects with STEM, sometimes referred to as STEAM, ca make sciece more relevat to day-to-day situatios ad ca help prepare studets for the icreasigly iterdiscipliary ature of research activity (both withi academia ad idustry). The Arts i Educatio Charter 112 will support this approach at school level. More geerally, the Sciece i Irelad Barometer 113 published by SFI i 2015 foud that, while 49% of the public feel iformed about STEM ad its cotributio to society, 71% feel that it is too complex for them to be able to discuss. The survey also foud that lower socioecoomic groups are less egaged i STEM. A host of awareess-raisig iitiatives take place every year across the coutry such as Sciece Week, SciFest, Itel Mii Scietist Program ad the BT Youg Scietist ad Techology Exhibitio ad there are good istaces of employers parterig with local schools to ecourage the uptake of STEM subjects. Coverage of these iitiatives however is ot cosistet atiowide ad additioal effort is required i certai areas. Across the board, parets eed to be better iformed of the beefits of STEM educatio i order to support their childre s study ad career choices. I order to address these issues, Iovatio 2020 icludes a rage of measures to stregthe STEM teachig ad learig ad icrease uptake at secod level. Additioal measures have also bee idetified as part of the developmet of this Strategy ad these relate to workig with parets to provide better iformatio o career opportuities, prioritisatio of resources for CPD for teachers of STEM subjects, retetio of studets o STEM related higher educatio courses ad a review of how STEM courses ca be further icetivised ad supported i higher educatio. 108 The Professioal Developmet Service for Teachers (PDST) Techology i Educatio promotes ad supports the itegratio of ICT i teachig ad learig i first ad secod level schools. It is part of the atioal support service, the Professioal Developmet Service for Teachers, which operates uder the aegis of the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills. 109 Scratch allows users to create ad share their ow iteractive stories, aimatios ad games

39 ACTION 1.3: BEYOND SCHOOL, THERE WILL BE ENHANCED INTEGRATION, PARTNERSHIPS AND SYNERGY BETWEEN THE FET AND HE SECTORS The projected skills eeds of the ecoomy set out earlier i this Strategy highlight the importace of sustaied developmet of further educatio ad traiig related skills i Irelad ad a more balaced portfolio of skills developmet opportuities across the FET ad HE sectors. This should iclude opportuities for school leavers, the uemployed ad those already i employmet. Better matchig of skills to employmet opportuities ca also be achieved by promotig the full rage of the skills provisio available i the FET ad HE sectors ad the value of these skills i meetig the eeds of the labour market ad providig career opportuities for idividuals. SOLAS has idicated that, for example, despite the exportig sector s demad for mid-level skills, there is isufficiet recogitio of the potetial of FET to meet this demad. Similarly, withi the large domestic sector, employers awareess of their skills eeds ad of the opportuities offered by FET are limited 114. The developmet of the Regioal Skills fora will be key to ehacig employer uderstadig of the opportuities available across the full spectrum of skills developmet. I additio, give the progress made i recofigurig the FET sector i recet years ad the developmet of ew Appreticeships ad Traieeships, it is ow timely for the State ad employers to promote the essetial skills attaied from FET as a route to skilled employmet ad ot just as a steppig stoe to higher educatio. This strategy icludes a ambitious target to support the delivery of 50,000 appreticeship ad traieeship places up to Progress will be reviewed i 2020 with a view to settig ew ambitious targets for the period to There will eed to be strog employer commitmet to achieve these targets. These ew appreticeships ad traieeships will provide a sigificat opportuity to showcase the potetial of vocatioal educatio. The role of the higher educatio sector i udergraduate formatio ad researcher developmet will cotiue strogly throughout the lifetime of this Strategy, i keepig with projectios for growig eterprise requiremets for highly skilled people. The Natioal Strategy for Higher Educatio will uderpi the developmet of the System Performace Framework. ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 1 ACTION MEASURES LEAD ACTION 1.1: 21ST CENTURY SKILLS - TRANSVERSAL SKILLS AND SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE ACTION 1.1: LANGUAGES Implemet a multi-aual programme of curriculum reform to esure that the pre-school ad school curriculum are cotiuously improved ad remais relevat to the eeds of idividuals, society ad the ecoomy: Cotiue with the review of the primary curriculum to esure that learig outcomes reflect the eeds of idividuals, society ad the ecoomy. NCCA to cosider the priorities i this strategy i providig advice o the allocatio of time o all aspects of the primary school curriculum i Rollout the ew Juior Cycle to deliver critical reform of skills developmet ad assessmet. Implemet revised seior cycle curricula i sciece ad other subject specificatios. Esure that assessmet supports learig ad provides evidece of learig trasversal skills ad kowledge across the sector. Promote the developmet of trasversal skills at all levels of the educatio ad traiig system ad icrease the visibility ad uderstadig of the skills developed at each level amog stakeholders. Complete the revisio of the cotet ad pedagogical approaches for iitial teacher educatio courses as provided for uder the Literacy ad Numeracy Strategy. Implemet the first phase of the ew Itegrated Primary Laguages Curriculum for Juior Ifats to 2d classes from September DES, NCCA,SEC, PDST DES, NCCA, EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS DES, NCCA, REGIONAL SKILLS FORA EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS DES, TEACHING COUNCIL DES, NCCA AND SCHOOLS 114 Sweeey, J. (2013) A Strategic Review of Further Educatio ad Traiig ad the Uemployed, Natioal Ecoomic ad Social Coucil. Develop ad implemet the Itegrated Primary Laguages Curriculum for 3rd to 6th classes which will follow o from the curriculum developed for the juior primary classes. Implemet the ew Foreig Laguages i Educatio strategy ad i particular pilot ad rollout the Commo Europea Frameword of Referece for Laguages (CEFR) across the educatio ad traiig system. DES, NCCA AND SCHOOLS DES, NCCA, HEA, SOLAS, EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS 76 77

40 ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 1 ACTION MEASURES LEAD ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 1 ACTION MEASURES LEAD ACTION 1.1: CREATIVITY, INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP Complete a Etrepreeurship Educatio Policy Statemet ad issue guidelies to schools to support the delivery of Etrepreeurial Educatio ad experietial learig opportuities. DES Actio 1.2: STEM Icrease support for the Smart Futures ad SFI Discover programmes ad build o success of iitiatives icludig Studet Eterprise Awards, CoderDojo, Sciece Week Irelad, BT Youg Scietist. (Iovatio 2020) SFI, DES, HEA, WITH OTHER FUNDERS, STAKEHOLDERS AND CO-SPONSORS Implemet the Eterprise Egagemet Strategy ad i particular complete the HEIovate Coutry Review of Etrepreeurship i Higher Educatio to iform future actios i this area. DES, HEA, QQI, HEIs Icrease Irish public awareess of STEM from 49% to 60% of the populatio (350,000 additioal people) (Iovatio 2020) SFI, HEA, DES Buildig o the success of the ICT summer camps hosted i HEIs for secod level studets, we will pilot ad support makerspace, fab lab ad other iovative summer camp ideas to promote etrepreeurial thikig, STEM ad desig skills amog studets. HEA, HEIs Icrease the level of uptake of STEM at secod level (Iovatio 2020) Support the retetio of studets o higher educatio courses, particularly i STEM disciplies through the Trasitios Reform ad specific retetio supports. SFI HEA, HEIs ACTION 1.2: STEM Implemet the Digital Strategy for Schools ( ). Develop a Strategy for Techology-Ehaced Learig i FET. Implemet A Roadmap for Ehacemet i a Digital World Review the primary sciece curriculum to esure its aims ad cotet cotiue to be relevat. Implemet ew Juior Cycle modules for ICT ad Sciece related subjects. DES, SUPPORT SERVICES, SCHOOLS AND OTHER EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS SOLAS, ETBs HEA, HEIs NCCA DES, NCCA, SEC Rollout the ew Seior Cycle Sciece curriculum. DES, NCCA, SEC Implemet the ICT Actio Pla to icrease supply of ICT graduates. Provide additioal resources to support the provisio of ehaced cotiuig professioal developmet opportuities for teachers of maths, sciece subjects (particularly physics & chemistry) ad i ICT related competeces. DES, HEA,HEANET, HEIS, DJEI, EI, IDA, SFI, INDUSTRY DES ACTION 1.3 DIVERSITY OF PROVISION BEYOND SCHOOL Review how STEM provisio ca be further icetivised ad supported. Implemet the Further Educatio ad Traiig Strategy 2015 to 2019 ad the Natioal Strategy to Higher Educatio to 2030 ad i particular promote the rage of provisio across both sectors to learers coupled with ogoig rigorous evaluatio of courses through moitorig outcomes for learers this will esure that resources ca be allocated where they deliver the best outcomes for learers. Subject to employer demad ad ecoomic capacity, provide a total of 50,000 appreticeship ad traieeship places up to Review progress i 2020 with a view to settig ew ambitious targets for the period to Cotiue to use flexible mechaisms such as Mometum ad Sprigboard to provide upskillig ad reskillig opportuities for the uemployed ad as the recovery takes hold provide upskillig ad reskillig opportuities for those i employmet. Cotiue to forecast the future skills eeds of the ecoomy to iform the developmet of relevat educatio ad traiig provisio. HEA, DES DES, SOLAS, HEA, HEIs, ETBs DES, SOLAS, EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS, INDUSTRY DES, SOLAS, HEA NSC, DES, SOLAS, DJEI 78 79

41 ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 1 ACTION MEASURES LEAD ACTION 1.3 DIVERSITY OF PROVISION BEYOND SCHOOL Improve the dissemiatio of skills requiremets ad labour market itelligece, atioally ad regioally, to iform dialogue betwee providers ad employers ad to uderpi the provisio of relevat skills developmet opportuities Work with the Natioal Parets Coucils for Primary ad Post-Primary to dissemiate skills ad labour market iformatio to parets i accessible formats. Support the developmet of the regioal skills fora to facilitate improved egagemet o skills eeds at regioal level. Support the developmet of studet pathways betwee FET ad HE ad improved academic plaig through the developmet of the Higher Educatio Clusters. Carry out a review of guidace services, tools ad careers iformatio for school studets ad adults ad recommed chages to improve the services available. NSC,DES, DJEI, SOLAS, Regioal Skills Fora DES, SOLAS, SFI DES HEA, HEIs DES OBJECTIVE 2: EMPLOYERS WILL PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS AND MAKE EFFECTIVE USE OF SKILLS IN THEIR ORGANISATIONS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY AND COMPETITIVENESS To esure effective relatioships, we will promote a shared uderstadig of what employer egagemet is ad how employers, of all sizes ad i all sectors of the ecoomy, ca get ivolved i the developmet of skills ad the effective use of skills. This ca happe through a umber of broad chaels: by ifluecig the skills developmet of graduates, i.e. of future employees, by upskillig existig staff, ad, thirdly, by supportig kowledge trasfer betwee educatioal istitutios ad eterprises. Graduate formatio ca be shaped through revisios to course cotet ad ehaced opportuities for studets to gai practical experiece. Egagemet with employers at every educatioal level will ehace the real world aspect of educatio ad eable educatioalists to take advatage of the perspective of employers ad similarly chage the relatioship ad iteractio of employers with educatio. Further Educatio ad Traiig providers ad Higher Educatio Istitutios to provide employability statemets for courses / disciplies to better iform studets, parets ad employers. Support Skillets to ecourage compaies to egage i their etworks to assist them i meetig their skills eeds EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS DES, SOLAS, SKILLNETS Compay staff ca be supported to update their skills ad also to maximise the use of their existig oes by their employer. Compaies ca also egage productively with educatioal istitutios by leveragig their research ad iovatio activities, e.g. by accessig equipmet that the compay may ot have i-house or by licesig i techologies developed by the istitutio. Implemet the Trasitios reform programme to support a better trasitio for studets from school to higher eductio. I the cotext of Iovatio 2020, esure quality postgraduate research educatio provisio i Irelad through the implemetatio of the Natioal Framework for Doctoral Educatio icorporatig modules o etrepreeurship, IP maagemet ad other geeric skills. Implemet the reform of the Higher Educatio ladscape, icludig the developmet of Techological Uiversity model. Esure the Systems Performace Framework for Higher Educatio icludes appropriate idicators for huma capital developmet ad specific skills requiremets for the period Esure the fudig model for Higher Educatio icetivises provisio aliged with the Systems Performace Framework. DES, NCCA, SEC, HEA, HEIs DES, HEA, IRC, HEIs DES, HEA, HEIs DES, HEA HEA The ways i which employers ca egage are illustrated below: 115 Studet / Graduate Formatio Curriculum desig ad course review Guest lectures ad Site visits Work placemet ad itership Work-based projects ad case studies Employability ad Etrepreeurship Careers iformatio Workforce Developmet Recruitmet Customised Course Developmet Cotiuig Professioal Developmet Recogitio of Prior Learig / work based learig Careers Iformatio Research ad Iovatio Cosultacy Use of equipmet ad facilities Exploitatio of research outcomes Licecig ad Patets Icubatio cetres Cotract ad collaborative research Complete the report of the Expert Group o Future Fudig for Higher Educatio. Cotiue to develop ad use the Employer Survey to gather data o employer satisfactio with FET ad HE graduate skills. DES DES, HEA, SOLAS, QQI 115 Adapted from Framework for Employer Egagemet developed as part of the REAP project (Roadmap for Employemet-Academic Partership) ad related higher educatio ititiatives

42 While employer egagemet is ot curretly cosistet across regios ad across sectors, we will seek to build o good practice already uderway ad esure that structures are developed to foster a more systemised approach. A ew etwork of Regioal Skills Fora will provide a framework for the educatio ad traiig providers ad eterprise stakeholders, icludig the eterprise developmet agecies, to work together i idetifyig ad addressig the curret ad future skills eeds of each regio o a ogoig basis. This icludes developig a collective uderstadig of the labour market ad the eterprise profile of the regio, i order to iform programme developmet ad esure that provisio is aliged with emergig skills eeds. The fora will also help employers better uderstad the full spectrum of educatio ad traiig programmes ad services available i the regio ad how to access them ad will provide a framework for employers to more proactively promote the wide rage of career optios ad roles available across each regio. ACTION 2.1 EMPLOYERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN SKILLS DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ACTIVE COLLABORATION WITH EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS As outlied earlier i this Strategy, there are already a rage of measures ad good practices uderway related to employer egagemet with schools, further educatio ad traiig ad i higher educatio. Probably the most visible aspect of employer egagemet is the provisio of work experiece ad work placemets. Every year, thousads of studets from trasitio year, the leavig certificate programmes, further educatio ad higher educatio courses go o work experiece or work placemets with employers across all sectors of the ecoomy. These placemets provide studets with the opportuity to lear about the world of work, explore possible career optios, develop skills for employability ad etwork with potetial employers. The outcomes achieved from various iitiatives icludig the Natioal Career Skills Competitio 116 ad the evaluatios of Mometum 117 ad Sprigboard 118 show that where there is strog commitmet ad iterest from employers, providers ad studets to egagemet, this ca add real value for all parties. I additio, higher educatio research carried out by the ESRI 119 suggests that icreasig the practical aspects of degree programmes, irrespective of the field of study, will reduce the icidece of graduate employmet mismatch. The study foud that i terms of routes ito the labour market, higher educatio work placemets with the potetial to develop ito permaet posts ad the provisio of higher educatio job placemet assistace had very substatial impacts i reducig the icidece of graduate mismatch Employer participatio is importat to iform the developmet of stadards ad qualificatios. I the case of educatio ad traiig programmes of a professioal or vocatioal ature, employer egagemet i developig occupatioal stadards is vital to esure the relevace ad currecy of provisio. While employer egagemet is ot curretly cosistet across regios ad across sectors, we will seek to build o good practice already uderway ad esure that this is systemised where appropriate. A potetial shortage of work placemets has bee flagged by a rage of educatio ad traiig providers. It will be imperative that employers ad particularly the SME sector egage i providig work placemet opportuities for studets which i tur will provide the compaies with opportuities to egage with taleted idividuals ad prospective employees ad gai exposure to potetially iovative ad etrepreeurial ideas. A ew JobsIrelad service, beig developed by the Departmet of Social Protectio, will upgrade the existig oe ad itroduce sigificatly advaced fuctioality for jobseeker ad employers. The ew website will eable both employers ad jobseekers to search for each other usig competecies ad skillsets as well as the traditioal job type classificatios. It will also operate i the backgroud to automatically match cadidate CVs to job specificatios posted by employers ad otify both cadidates ad the employer whe a match is foud. I additio, educatioal istitutios will have a optio to publicise work experiece opportuities for their studets, for employers to offer work experiece opportuities ad for studets to apply for such opportuities. It is aticipated that the facility will be available i the first half of This will be useful tool for schools, FET ad HE providers, studets ad employers which ca be promoted atioally ad regioally. ACTION 2.2: THE CAPABILITY OF SMES WILL BE ENHANCED THROUGH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT Irelad has a large umber of small busiesses. Improvig maagemet practices i SMEs will improve productivity, iovatio ad use of skills i the ecoomy. The Report of the Maagemet Developmet Coucil (MDC) 120 published i 2010, cited research carried out by McKisey Cosultats which foud that the level of geeral maagemet skills i Irish busiesses was relatively poor, particularly i specific fuctioal skills such as huma resources, marketig ad fiace, ad i forward plaig ad strategic maagemet. Highly proficiet leadership, with ambitio, visio ad strog maagemet teams, is fudametal if a firm is to idetify ad aticipate chagig market dyamics ad to fully uderstad its customer base. The MDC report foud that the vast majority of exports ad export-led employmet by Irish owed firms is accouted for by compaies which have ivested i iovatio ad cotiuously adapt. The MDC recommeded that a atioal system for maagemet developmet be put i place i order to boost productivity, iovatio ad competitiveess amogst Irish SMEs

43 Traiig ad executive educatio are key tools for compaies to grow ad develop their existig i-house teams. The role of maagers ad their developmet is critical i supportig Irish eterprises to export ad grow to scale. I-house traiig frequetly becomes a eabler i retaiig staff with valuable skills withi a compay. Eterprise Irelad has worked with istitutios both atioally ad iteratioally to develop ad provide Irish exportig compaies with state-of-the-art staff developmet programmes. These programmes spa strategic leadership, maagemet developmet ad focus o capability developmet withi the orgaisatio/compay. Irelad s Higher ad Further Educatio providers ad the etworks supported by Skillets clearly have a pivotal role i providig cotiuig professioal developmet (CPD) for eterprises of all sizes. The Skillets programme actively supports ad works with busiesses i Irelad to address their curret ad future skills eeds. It fuds groups of compaies i the same regio or sector, ad with similar traiig eeds, through traiig etworks that deliver subsidised traiig to Irish busiesses. I 2015 Skillets received 16.2m ad were give a target of providig traiig ad related services for 42,000 persos of which 8,000 places were targeted at uemployed. I additio, Eterprise Irelad has worked closely with the HEA ad the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills, as well as Educatio Traiig Boards (ETBs) o the Regioal SME Iovatio ageda. These etworks provide idividual iovative SMEs with the skill ad research cosultacy likages withi their regio ad forge practical alliaces betwee idustry ad academia i the regio. ACTION 2.3: WORKFORCE PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR WILL BE IMPROVED Workforce plaig process to esure the right umber of people with the right skills are employed i the right place at the right time to deliver short- ad log-term objectives. As highlighted earlier i this documet, there are 375,000 people i the public sector (icludig semi-state compaies). The majority of public sector employees are i Health (122,000) ad Educatio (108,000). Graduates of the higher educatio system make up the vast majority of employees i the Health ad Educatio sectors ad esurig there is a supply of graduates to meet demad will be a key issue i the comig years. I relatio to Health, studets o Health ad Welfare programmes accouted for 17% (almost 36,000) of all erolmets i higher educatio i 2013/2014 with 81% of these studyig at udergraduate levels. This is a icrease of 16% i the last five years. I 2013/14, almost half of all Health ad Welfare erolmets was made up of Nursig ad carig (9,434, i.e. 26%) ad Medicie (8,232, i.e. 23%). The total umber of Health ad Welfare graduates has icreased by 22% over the last five years with almost 11,000 studets graduatig i 2013/14. There has bee a sigificat icrease i some postgraduate award types from 2009/2010 to 2013/2014 with the largest beig a 137.9% icrease i PhD graduates. 121 Teacher quality ad teacher supply is a area of sigificat iterest to the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills. The Departmet is already explorig issues i relatio to regulatig teacher supply i a more effective maer. I the comig years, we are facig sigificat icreases i the umber of school goig childre. The umbers of primary school childre are projected to icrease by over 19,000 betwee 2015 ad 2018 before decliig thereafter. The umber of studets i secod level schools are projected to icrease by early 67,000 betwee 2015 ad 2025 before decliig thereafter. The largest icreases will be betwee 2020 ad Iovatio More geerally, there is a commitmet uder the Public Service Reform Pla 122 developmet of workforce plas across the public sector. to the ACTION 2.4: WE WILL PROMOTE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ACTIVITIES Skills Productivity Research ad iovatio are cetral to the iteratioal competitive advatage of compaies of all sizes based i Irelad. Iovatio 2020 outlies Irelad s iovatio strategy for the ext five years. Supportig idigeous SMEs to egage i research ad iovatio ad ecouragig foreig-owed firms to locate some of their research activities i Irelad each preset their ow opportuities ad challeges. More active employer egagemet with higher educatio istitutios will help to idetify where there is potetial to collaborate, whether that is through access to some advaced equipmet, cotract research o a specific issue, or loger-term collaborative research o a more strategic iovatio developmetal ageda. The admiistrative burde o higher educatio istitutios egagig i research ad iovatio should be miimised to support their egagemet with eterprise Source: Higher Educatio Authority Aalysis of Studet Data

44 ACTION 2.5: IMPROVED EMPLOYER PARTICIPATION WILL STRENGTHEN THE PROMOTION AND COMMUNICATION OF CAREER OPPORTUNITIES There is a role for idustry across all sectors i commuicatig ad promotig career opportuities ad settig out clear career paths withi their sectors. There is a sigificat amout of chur i the Irish labour market which places a cost o employers i terms of ogoig recruitmet ad temporary loss of productivity. Improved employee retetio ca be achieved by employers ad idustry represetatives idetifyig career pathways for employees or those cosiderig eterig a sector. O-goig egagemet with eterprise ad the developmet agecies ad more accessible iformatio - especially i relatio to o-traditioal sectors such as BioPharma, Iteratioal Fiacial Services ad Lifescieces - will also help guidace cousellors, studets ad parets to uderstad the job opportuities ad aptitudes required i emergig sectors. ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 2 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ACTION 2.1: Workig with idustry, seek to provide: EMPLOYER COLLABORATION IN DEVELOPING RELEVANT SKILLS all Trasitio Year, LCA ad LCVP studets who seek a work placemet have this opportuity ad track atioally. all full-time studets studyig at levels 6 to 8 o the NFQ framework with access to work placemets ad iterships. 123 Esure that studets at levels 9 ad 10 o the NFQ framework have access to work placemets or work-based projects ad case studies, as appropriate. While employer egagemet is ot curretly cosistet across regios ad across sectors, we will seek to build o good practice already uderway ad esure that structures are developed to foster a more systemised approach through the Regioal Skills Fora. Use the structures ad processes established by the Regioal Skills Fora to esure exteral parters ca easily access the broad rage of opportuities available from educatio ad traiig providers, build o good practice across istitutios ad i the Mometum ad Sprigboard programmes ad icrease employer participatio i curriculum desig ad review. EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS WITH INDUSTRY EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS WITH INDUSTRY REGIONAL SKILLS FORA, EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS, ENTERPRISE AGENCIES REGIONAL SKILLS FORA 123 Part-time studets may already be workig ad istitutios will eed to assess whether their curret role is appropriate work experiece where appropriate to do so. The implemetatio of this actio will ot disadvatage the provisio of flexible, part-time offerigs for those i employmet. ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 2 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ACTION 2.1: EMPLOYER COLLABORATION IN DEVELOPING RELEVANT SKILLS ACTION 2.2: CAPABILITY OF SMES WILL BE ENHANCED THROUGH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ACTION 2.3: WORKFORCE PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR Ecourage the ivolvemet of practitioers with experiece of deliverig educatio, providig for lecturer placemets i idustry ad egagemet of lecturers with recet experiece of the world of work. Dissemiate good practice ad support i egagig with employers to educatio ad traiig providers. Esure appropriate idicators for employer egagemet are icluded i the Higher Educatio System Performace Framework. Eterprise Irelad will provide supports for EI maagemet developmet for SME cliet compaies, i order to icrease the umber of Irish compaies exportig ad growig to scale, ad will work i collaboratio with traiig providers as appropriate i this regard. Local Eterprise Offices will support the LEOs traiig eeds of cliet etrepreeurs ad micro-eterprises, through their rage of traiig offerigs. Educatio ad Traiig providers will work with SMEs to idetify ad address traiig eeds. Support the further developmet of skills assessmet resources to help compaies, especially SMEs, to accurately idetify their skills eeds. Complete the review of educatio ad traiig programmes that lead to qualificatios i early years care ad educatio. Develop ad implemet a atioal framework for teachers cotiuig professioal developmet (Cosá) Develop ad implemet a atioal iductio ad probatio programme for ewly qualified teachers (Droichead). Develop ad implemet a plaig framework for teacher supply. Stregthe egagemet betwee Health ad Educatio o workforce developmet requiremets of the Health Sector EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS DES DES, HEA EI LEOs EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS, REGIONAL SKILLS FORA Skillets DES TEACHING COUNCIL TEACHING COUNCIL TEACHING COUNCIL, DES D/PER 86 87

45 ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 2 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ACTION 2.3: WORKFORCE PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR Examie the feasibility of requirig professioals i the public sector to register with the relevat professioal body ad egage i cotiuig professioal developmet. D/PER ACTION 2.4: RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ACTION 2.5: GUIDANCE AND CAREERS INFORMATION Progress the developmet of workforce plaig strategies for the public sector as provided for i the Public Service Reform Pla ad Civil Service Reewal Pla Eterprise Irelad will cotiue to egage with EI cliet compaies ad direct them to specific HEIs ad idividuals withi HEIs o the iovatio ageda. Eterprise Irelad will cotiue to roll out the Regioal SME Iovatio Forum atioally, which liks SMEs with their local HEIs. Carry out a review of guidace services, tools ad careers iformatio for school studets ad adults ad recommed chages to improve the services available. Workig with idustry voluteers ad schools, seek to esure every secod level school is offered at least oe school visit aually through the Smart Futures School Visit Programme. Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received RELEVANT GOVT DEPARTMENT ENTERPRISE IRELAND Employees, uemployed people ad other jobseekers, eed to realise the value over their life time of improvig their skills, ad they eed to see that this ehaced value will materialise. Idividuals & Worker represetatives EI DES SFI OBJECTIVE 3: THE QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING AT ALL STAGES OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING WILL BE CONTINUALLY ENHANCED AND EVALUATED Iteratioal research idicates that high quality iitial ad cotiuig educatio for staff ivolved i direct provisio of educatio ad traiig is key to fosterig better learer outcomes. 124 Providig for a high quality of teachig ad learig experiece for everyoe is a key elemet of the Departmet of Educatio ad Skill s reform programme. There is also a strog emphasis o improvig accoutability ad the use of evaluatio to measure outcomes. As with other reforms uderway, the Departmet is takig a whole of system approach to raisig quality across early years, schools, FET ad HE. ACTION 3.1 QUALITY WILL BE EMBEDDED IN THE DELIVERY OF EARLY-YEARS SERVICES The Departmet is workig closely with the Departmet of Childre ad Youth Affairs o quality improvemet withi the early-years sector. It supports the operatio of Better Start the ewly established quality support service for the sector which is deployig a team of early year s specialists as metors/advisers workig with early-years services o quality improvemet. The Departmet is also resposible for the implemetatio of Síolta, the Natioal Quality Framework for Early Childhood Educatio across the sector. A ew Síolta ad Aistear iitiative will support the further developmet ad wider implemetatio of the atioal frameworks i The NCCA has published a web-based Aistear ad Síolta Practice Guide which hosts a rage of iteractive resources ad materials i support of quality i practice. To complemet the work of the Child ad Family Agecy pre-school ispectorate (TUSLA), the DES Ispectorate has itroduced educatio-focused ispectios o the quality of educatioal provisio i early childhood educatio settigs participatig i the Free Pre-School Year Programme. To esure that early year s practitioers are equipped with the skills ad competeces to work i the early year s sector, DES will be carryig out a further phase of the review of educatio ad traiig programmes that lead to qualificatios i early years care ad educatio i ACTION 3.2 WE WILL IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SCHOOLS BY INVESTING IN HIGH QUALITY TEACHER EDUCATION AND EVALUATION As part of the Literacy ad Numeracy Strategy, there has bee sigificat reform of iitial teacher educatio programmes (ITE) i recet years. ITE Programmes have bee legtheed ad chages have bee made to the cotet ad pedagogical approaches take to better prepare teachers for the classroom. The Teachig Coucil has bee give a rage of powers to oversee iitial ad cotiuig educatio programmes ad to esure that we have a fully registered teachig professio. 124 See Europea Commissio, Educatio ad Traiig, (2013): Supportig teacher competece developmet for better learig outcomes. See also the Ecoomic ad Social Research Coucil, (2008) Challege ad chage i further educatio

46 A focus i the comig years will be to commece fitess to teach hearigs for teachers ad make cotiuig professioal developmet a ormal ad madatory part of a teacher s career, through the developmet of Cosá, the atioal framework for teachers learig. The focus of school ispectio is ow o teachers practice ad the quality of studets learig. The Departmet aims to build o the high regard i which Irish teachers are held ad offer teachers opportuities to use more varied forms of studet assessmet, school self-evaluatio ad co-professioal peer review to examie ad improve their work with youg people. The School Self Evaluatio (SSE) 125 process is ecouragig ad supportig schools to build capacity ad take more resposibility for the quality of provisio. The SSE Guidelies articulates a clear set of stadards for teachig ad learig i schools ad focuses o the learig experieces ad outcomes for the learer, the objective of which is to eable school improvemet. I additio, work by the Departmet o the digital strategy for schools is aimed at embeddig the use of digital techologies i teachig, learig ad assessmet at primary ad post primary level. ACTION 3.3 TO BETTER OUTCOMES FET AND HE WILL PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY LEARNING EXPERIENCES LEADING The provisio of high-quality learig experieces is a priority of the Further Educatio ad Strategy ad a umber of iitiatives are already uderway to uderpi this. For the first time, the Teachig Coucil has accredited a umber of ITE programmes for the Further Educatio ad Traiig sector. I additio, durig 2015, SOLAS has profiled the existig skills base i ETBs to iform the developmet of a CPD Strategy for ETB staff ivolved i the delivery of further educatio ad traiig programmes. Evaluatio is also a key feature of the FET strategy ad a review of Post Leavig Certificate provisio is due to be completed i There is a schedule of evaluatios of other FET programmes plaed as part of the FET Strategy implemetatio. Quality ad Qualificatios Irelad (QQI) 126 has a importat role to play i relatio to moitorig ad promotig quality i the FET sector. FET providers seekig access to QQI awards must first establish QA procedures i lie with QQI guidelies ad submit them to QQI for approval. QQI curretly has QA agreemets i place with approximately 600 FET providers, comprisig ETBs, private sector providers, ad commuity ad volutary sector providers. QQI is curretly developig core Quality Assurace Guidelies (QAG) that apply to all Educatio ad Traiig Providers. This will be followed by the developmet of supplemetary QAGs that target specific sectors, icludig oe for the ETBs, ad specific topics such as appreticeships. QQI also validates FET programmes for providers who wish to access QQI awards ad issues certificates to providers o behalf of learers who have completed (QQI validated) FET programmes. A total of 644 programmes were validated, ad approximately 250,000 certificates issued, by QQI i QQI is curretly developig a ew policy ad criteria for the Validatio of Further ad Higher Educatio ad Traiig Programmes. This will be of iterest to prospective ad curret providers accessig QQI awards. I 2015 QQI lauched a ehaced dyamic ifographics tool o its website that eables iformatio o QQI FET awards for the period to be displayed by coutry, study field ad NFQ level ad award type. I all of this activity i the FET sector, QQI works closely with SOLAS. This cooperatio will be further ehaced by the developmet of a memoradum of uderstadig betwee the two orgaisatios. All of these iitiatives will ehace the reputatio ad uderpi the developmet of the FET sector i the comig years. Teachig ad learig is a core missio of higher educatio ad the delivery of high quality studet experieces is a promiet feature of the Higher Educatio Strategy to A umber of relevat iitiatives have bee rolled out icludig a ew Systems Performace Framework which sets out the system-level objectives for all the public fuded HE istitutios ad this icludes teachig ad learig ad the studet experiece. The ew process of strategic dialogue process ad compacts betwee the HEA ad HEIs provides a robust ad trasparet framework for esurig accoutability i respect of the expediture of the Exchequer fudig vested i higher educatio istitutios while respectig the istitutioal autoomy which is eshried i the legislatio for the sector. The Irish Survey of Studet Egagemet (ISSE) 127, provides a rich source of qualitative data o the studet-learig experiece o which the HEA, as well as idividual istitutios, ca draw to support quality-ehacemet. The HEA s ew graduate outcomes survey, which will provide high-quality, iteratioally comparable data o graduates employmet ad educatioal outcomes, is curretly uder developmet ad, whe lauched i 2019, will sigificatly ehace the HEA s capacity to evaluate istitutios resposiveess to emergig skills eeds. The Natioal Forum for the Ehacemet of Teachig ad Learig 128 is a key system-level ifrastructure for the ehacemet of teachig ad learig i Irish higher educatio ad it has led o the developmet of a ew professioal developmet framework for those who teach i higher educatio ad this is due to be lauched i The quality assurace of Irish higher educatio provided by Quality ad Qualificatios Irelad (QQI) is a essetial complemet to the HEA s strategic performace maagemet of the sector. Esurig a syergistic relatioship betwee the quality assurace ad ehacemet of higher educatio istitutios programme provisio o the oe had, ad the strategic performace maagemet ad developmet of the higher educatio system o the other, is essetial to the developmet of a world-class higher educatio system which will be resposive to the evolvig eeds of all stakeholders

47 Give the expasio of higher educatio provisio i recet years, i the cotext of reducig resources, cocers have bee raised about the impact o quality. A review of the measures i place to support quality i the higher educatio sector will be iitiated i The work of the Expert Group o Future Fudig for Higher Educatio is also cetral to addressig this issue i the comig years. ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 3 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ACTION 3.1: EARLY YEARS SERVICES ACTION 3.2: TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SCHOOLS Implemet the Better Start quality support service to support quality improvemet i early-years services. Rollout out ispectios focused o the quality of educatio provisio i early childhood educatio settigs participatig i the Free Pre-School Year Programme Complete the review of educatio ad traiig programmes that lead to qualificatios i early years care ad educatio. Develop ad implemet a atioal iductio ad probatio programme for ewly qualified teachers (Droichead). Commece fitess to teach hearigs ad complete the developmet of Cosá, the atioal framework for teachers' learig. Cotiue to develop school ispectio models to icrease the efficiecy ad effectiveess of ispectio ad to support the targetig of resources where the eed for assistace ad support is greatest. Cotiue to implemet the school self-evaluatio model model of quality assurace to ecourage ad supports schools to build capacity ad take more resposibility for the quality of provisio. Implemet the Digital Strategy for Schools ( ) DCYA, DES DES DES TEACHING COUNCIL TEACHING COUNCIL DES DES DES, SUPPORT SERVICES, SCHOOLS AND OTHER EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 3 ACTION 3.3: HIGH QUALITY LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN FET AND HE Develop ad implemet CPD Strategy for ETB staff ivolved i the delivery of further educatio ad traiig programmes. Complete the review of Post Leavig Certificate provisio i 2016 ad complete the schedule of evaluatios of other FET programmes plaed as part of the FET Strategy implemetatio. Facilitate ehaced cooperatio ad data sharig betwee QQI ad SOLAS though the developmet of a Memoradum of Uderstadig. Develop core Quality Assurace Guidelies ad supplemetary guidelies for the ETB sector ad for appreticeship programmes. Develop a ew policy ad criteria for the Validatio of Further ad Higher Educatio ad Traiig Programmes. Complete ad rollout the Programme ad Learer Support System (PLSS), to provide a platform for reportig o all further educatio ad traiig outputs ad outcomes from 2017 owards. Implemet A Roadmap for Ehacemet i a Digital World Publish a professioal developmet framework for higher educatio i Carry out a review of the Natioal Forum for the Ehacemet of Teachig ad Learig i Cotiue to gather data through the Irish Survey of Studet Egagemet (ISSE) to support qualityehacemet. Complete developmet ad rollout the ew graduate outcomes survey, to provide high quality data o graduates employmet ad educatioal outcomes. Review the measures i place to support quality i Higher Educatio. LEAD SOLAS SOLAS QQI/SOLAS QQI, SOLAS, ETBS, ETBI QQI, SOLAS AND HEA SOLAS NFETL, HEIS NFETL, HEIS HEA HEA HEA DES Complete the report of the Expert Group o Future Fudig for Higher Educatio. DES 92 93

48 Productivity Skills OBJECTIVE 4: PEOPLE ACROSS IRELAND WILL ENGAGE MORE IN LIFELONG LEARNING Lifelog learig brigs beefits to the idividual, to society ad to employers: lifelog learig has a importat cotributio to make to people s wellbeig, to creatig a more iclusive society ad to supportig a vibrat ad sustaiable ecoomy. From a ecoomic developmet perspective, the cotiuous traiig ad up-skillig of people i the workforce is particularly importat i maitaiig the competitiveess of Irish compaies ad foreig owed compaies based here ad i makig Irelad a attractive locatio for ivestmet. Lifelog learig ad skills developmet is a shared resposibility. resposibility Learers Employers Educatio ad Traiig Providers Govermet Supports lear to grow Give the importace of lifelog learig, the EU2020 Strategy icludes a target to have 15% of year-olds participatig i lifelog learig by Lifelog learig as defied by Eurostat icludes all purposeful learig activity, whether formal, o-formal or iformal, udertake o a ogoig basis with the aim of improvig kowledge, skills ad competece. Formal Educatio covers the regular educatio ad traiig system where courses are of a predetermied purpose ad format provided i the system of schools, colleges,uiversities ad other educatioal istitutios ormally costitute a cotiuous ladder of educatio structured i terms of learig objectives,learig time ad learig support ormally iteded to lead to a qualificatio recogised by atioal authorities qualify-ig for a specific educatio/programme). No-formal Educatio refers to all orgaised learig activities outside regular or formal educatio. The learer ormally has to register for each learig activity. Noformal educatio icludes participatig i a course or a semiar to acquire/improve skills, kowledge ad competece; courses ca be aimed at improvigjob-related kowledge or ehacig skillsfor social ad persoal purposes both courses leadig to certificates adcourses ot leadig to certificates grids, piao lessos, ight classes, artcourses, letter writig, usig the iteret,courses i Tai Chi, drivig lessos, etc. Iformal Learig icludes learig that is ot orgaised or structured i terms of purpose, time or istructio (e.g. laguage skills acquired durig a stay abroad, IT skills acquired at work, skills acquired through sports, readig a professioal magazie etc.) This is a complex activity to measure give the variety of activities ecompassed by formal ad o-formal educatio. Curret measuremets do ot ecompass iformal educatio so the available data uderstates the positio. However, data compiled by the EGFSN i early 2015 highlights that lifelog learig rates i Irelad are well below the EU average ad the gap betwee Irelad s performace ad the EU average has wideed rather tha improved i recet years 130. I cotrast to the EU tred, however, lifelog learig participatio rates i Irelad are higher amogst ecoomically iactive persos tha they are amogst people i employmet. I additio, Irelad lags sigificatly behid the top performig coutries such as Demark (31.7%), Swede (28.9%) ad Filad (25.1%) Statistics o iformal learig are ot always available ad the CSO (QNHS) ad iteratioal data o lifelog learig ecompasses formal ad o-formal learig oly

49 Table 6 Eurostat: Participatio rate i educatio ad traiig (last 4 weeks) 2014 Irelad ACTION 4.1: THE BENEFITS OF LIFELONG LEARNING WILL BE PROMOTED AND COMMUNICATED TO THE FULL POPULATION OF IRELAND EU Average Lifelog learig participatio rate (25 to 64 year olds) 6.7% 10.7% Employed persos participatio rate 5.5% 11.6% Ecoomically iactive persos participatio rate 10.1% 8% Lifelog learig ad skills developmet is a shared resposibility. While the State ad educatio ad traiig providers have a role to play, employers ad citizes must also take resposibility for esurig their skills eeds are met. There are particular challeges for smaller busiesses to participate i educatio ad traiig. They eed to be ecouraged ad icetivised to ivest more i cotiuous workforce traiig. There is also a eed for maagers to up-skill - especially i SMEs - to uderpi compay developmet ad growth. Research also shows that low-skilled ad older workers are less likely to be offered, or to seek, upskillig from employers, but these workers are also the most vulerable to ogoig chages withi the workplace. Adult ad commuity educatio across Irelad will be improved durig this Strategy. We will work with govermet departmets, state agecies ad represetative groups to promote a uderstadig of what lifelog learig is ad the beefits of participatig i lifelog learig to idividuals, the self-employed ad employers. ACTION 4.2: THERE WILL BE MORE AND EASIER OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOSE IN EMPLOYMENT TO ENGAGE IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING I the comig years, there should be a icreased focus o the provisio of appropriate educatio ad traiig opportuities for those i employmet, particularly older workers ad low skilled workers. This will require the provisio of a cost-effective ad diverse rage of provisio to meet the eeds of workers across all sector of the ecoomy. It will also require greater flexibility i how learig opportuities are delivered to support participatio particularly by employees ad maagers i SMEs ad for the self-employed. ACTION 4.3: THERE WILL BE GREATER RECOGNITION OF WORKPLACE LEARNING AND CAPACITY FOR RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING WILL BE DEVELOPED. Workplace learig ca take a umber of forms icludig i-compay traiig, o the job traiig ad through less formal learig activities such as team work ad problem solvig activities. Workplace learig ca also be take to mea work placemets or work experiece. Activities such as o the job traiig are easier to describe ad assig a value to ad the recogitio of workplace learig eeds to be developed further. This is particularly importat give the fact that over the comig years the ew ways of workig described earlier i this documet will have implicatios for how workplace learig occurs i the future. It is clear from the submissios received ad i a recet report commissio by Natioal Forum for the Ehacemet of Teachig ad Learig i Higher Educatio 131 that there is ot a commo uderstadig of what Recogitio of Prior Learig (RPL) is ad what it ca be used for ad this eeds to be addressed. The use of RPL also eeds to be promoted amog practitioers ad processes further developed at istitutio / provider level with visibility at atioal level of RPL policies ad practices. It is clear that there is established good practice i RPL across the HE system i particular. I the comig years, work i this area ca build o the progress already made i icorporatig RPL ito the Sprigboard ad Mometum iitiatives ad work uderway relatig to access, trasfer ad progressio ad i particular the Strategic Performace Framework for Higher Educatio ad the work beig developed as part of Higher Educatio clusters o studet pathways ad academic plaig ad the developmet of Regioal Skills Fora. ACTION 4.4 : CAREER GUIDANCE WILL BE STRENGTHENED SIGNIFICANTLY, WITH THE AID OF EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT. Career guidace for studets ad adults has bee highlighted as a importat issue by may stakeholders durig the developmet of this strategy. It has also bee highlighted that career guidace eeds to be uderpied by up-to-date careers iformatio from employers, particularly i less well uderstood sectors of the ecoomy that may ot be as visible i everyday life. As is clear from the aalysis earlier i this report, chagig patters of work, i a ever more globalized ecoomy will require people to upskill ad reskill throughout life for differet careers ad jobs. Guidace is icreasigly importat i the cotext of lifelog learig ad Career Maagemet Skills have bee highlighted as a importat skill that people of all ages eed to develop to eable them to maage their ow career ad make the right choices for them

50 Despite the challeges durig the ecoomic dowtur, reports have show that guidace cotiued to be a priority i schools ad the whole-school guidace approach has bee utilised more i recet years, i lie with best practice recommeded by the Departmet ad the Natioal Cetre for Guidace i Educatio. However, career guidace at all levels of the educatio ad traiig system is beig delivered i a chagig ladscape. The types of occupatios ad jobs that are beig created is chagig more tha ever before. As well as advice from guidace professioals ad iformatio portals, give the pace at which ew roles ad sectors are developig it is also importat that studets ad their parets have opportuities to hear directly from people workig i these areas what their jobs etail ad the types of educatio ad traiig courses that are relevat to developig career paths. For school studets, chages to the curriculum will eable them to grow as cofidet lifelog learers ad empower them to idetify ad meet their learig eeds i later life. I additio, implemetatio of chages as part of the Trasitios 132 iitiative to broade etry routes ito higher educatio ad reduce early course specialisatio will be a cetral part of improvig college retetio levels ad will make course choice less dautig for studets. I the FET sector, the restructurig ad cosolidatio of the further educatio ad traiig sector ad the reductio i the umber of ETBs will make it a easier system for people of all ages to avigate. SOLAS is also developig a FET programme database system ad a atioal FET programme caledar which will make it easier for learers to get iformatio o course optios. Work will also begi i 2016 o a ew itegrated FET Guidace Strategy. There are a rage of resources already available. For example, the DES fuded Qualifax.ie ad CareersPortal.ie services provide iformatio o careers ad jobs across the ecoomy, courses ad access to self-assessmet tools to help people work out what courses ad occupatios are right for them. The SFI fuded Smart Futures programme curretly seeks to promote awareess of opportuities i STEM careers. The developmet of the INTREO ad JobPath services has also see chages i provisio of assistace ad advice o employmet, traiig ad persoal developmet opportuities for the uemployed. The developmet of the ew Regioal Skills Fora will also provide a framework at regioal level for employers to more proactively promote the rage of career optios ad roles available across each regio. Give the chagig cotext for guidace, at all levels, of educatio ad traiig, it is ow timely to carry out a review of the full rage of guidace services, tools ad careers iformatio to map future priorities ad make recommedatios for improvemets. ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 4 ACTION MEASURES LEAD ACTION 4.1: PROMOTE LIFELONG LEARNING ACTION 4.2: WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Promote the cocept ad beefits of lifelog learig amog the geeral populatio, the selfemployed ad employers to drive cultural chage. Bechmark the level of ivestmet by busiesses i workforce traiig to provide a comprehesive ad regular picture of progress. Promote ad support egagemet with cotiuig professioal developmet at all levels of the educatio ad traiig system. Promote ad support egagemet with cotiuig professioal developmet across the public sector. Review the Strategic Performace Framework for Higher Educatio for the period to esure that relevat lifelog learig idicators are icluded. Fudig models for educatio ad traiig must icetivise our providers to deliver o the wide spectrum of lifelog learig eeds. This will mea appropriate approaches to fudig that support differet types of part-time provisio, module-based delivery systems, collaboratio across educatio ad traiig providers (icludig betwee HE ad FE) ad access by, ad retetio of, all potetial lifelog learers. Review the share of Natioal Traiig Fud (NTF) resources allocated to traiig people i employmet o a o-goig basis over the lifetime of the Strategy, to explore the possibility of icreasig the allocatio as uemploymet levels fall. Icetivise flexible learig opportuities across the further educatio ad traiig ad higher educatio sectors icludig through part-time, o-lie ad modular learig, to further facilitate idividuals to participate i Lifelog Learig. DES, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR BODIES CSO, DJEI DES DES D/HEALTH DPER OTHER PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYERS DES, HEA DES, HEA, SOLAS DES, DPER DES, HEA, SOLAS Level-To-Higher-Educatio-Implemetatio-ad-Next-Steps.pdf 98 99

51 ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER ON OBJECTIVE 4 ACTION MEASURES LEAD ACTION 4.3: WORKPLACE LEARNING AND RPL ACTION 4.4: GUIDANCE AND CAREERS INFORMATION Provide for the recogitio of awards by private, professioal ad o-atioal awardig bodies withi the Natioal Framework of Qualificatios ad to esure that programmes leadig to recogised awards are quality assured. Promote the developmet of a commo uderstadig of Recogitio of Prior Learig ad support the dissemiatio of good practice i RPL across the Further Educatio ad Traiig ad Higher Educatio sectors. Support a multi-agecy approach to the developmet of RPL i cosultatio with relevat stakeholders. Carry out a review of guidace services, tools ad careers iformatio for school studets ad adults ad recommed chages to improve the services available. Sapshot from the cosultatio papers received DES, QQI DES, HEA, SOLAS, QQI It is first worth cautioig the extet to which future skills eeds ca be aticipated, particularly give the rapid pace of chage i the curret globalised cotext, forecastig of this ature is a hugely imperfect sciece. Therefore employers ad educatio providers workig closely together to facilitate lifelog learig ad cotiuous developmet, as well as creatig ew pathways ad opportuities to meet ogoig skills demads, is of fudametal importace. Idividuals & Worker represetatives DES DES OBJECTIVE 5: THERE WILL BE A SPECIFIC FOCUS ON ACTIVE INCLUSION TO SUPPORT PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND THE LABOUR MARKET ACTION 5.1: DISADVANTAGED AND UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS WILL BE SUPPORTED TO PARTICIPATE IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING Iclusive educatio is a fudametal priciple of our educatio ad traiig system ad measures to address the diverse eeds of studets of all ages have bee i place across the educatio ad traiig system for may years. At school level, the DEIS (Deliverig Equality of Opportuity i Schools) programme 133,, to tackle educatioal disadvatage, has bee i place for a decade. Recet evaluatios of DEIS, show ecouragig results. Literacy ad Numeracy rates i primary schools are improvig steadily 134 secod level attaimet levels are also improvig; ad, critically, attedace, participatio ad retetio levels have also icreased. 135 However, average results for pupils i DEIS schools still fall below the atioal average. Irelad curretly has a early school leavers rate of 8.4%, which is below the EU2020 target of 10% ad close to Irelad s ow adopted target of 8% by Statistics for latest pupil cohort, (those who sat their Leavig Certificate i 2013 or 2014) show a overall retetio rate of %. The retetio rate for i DEIS schools has icreased i recet years to its curret level of 82.1%. The retetio rate for o-deis schools is 92.63%. Retetio data o a milestoe basis (ie Juior Cert Year 1, 2 ad 3, Seior Cycle Year 1 ad 2) show that the majority of dropout at secod level occurs betwee seior cycle year 1 ad seior cycle year 2 which is usually age The curret legal school-leavig age is 16. As part of the implemetatio of this Strategy, a review of the school-leavig age will be carried out i cojuctio with the Departmets of Childre ad Youth Affairs ad Jobs Eterprise ad Iovatio with a view to icreasig it. This review will iform the developmet of ew targets for school retetio to I additio, a rage of measures are i place to support the iclusio ad participatio of childre with special educatioal eeds ad policy is beig further developed i this area. 136 A pilot of a ew model for allocatig additioal teachig resources to schools to support childre with special educatio eeds is curretly uderway. I the FET sector, there are a umber of programmes which provide opportuities for those who have left the school system early. Youthreach ad Commuity Traiig Cetres provide a opportuity for youg people to develop skills ad cofidece ad prepare for further educatio or work. Other programmes, accessible to people of all ages, iclude Adult Literacy, the Back to Educatio Iitiative, Commuity Educatio ad Eglish for Speakers of Other Laguages (ESOL)

52 I higher educatio, equity of access has bee a feature of atioal policy for the last thirty years. Most recetly, equity of access is idetified as a core atioal objective for the higher educatio system i the DES Higher Educatio System Performace Framework (SPF) I additio, the Natioal Pla for Equity of Access to Higher educatio has recetly bee lauched. The Natioal Access Pla will seek to build o the positive progress that has bee made i recet years i makig higher educatio istitutios more represetative. For example, overall participatio by studets with disabilities i higher educatio has grow from less tha 1,000 studets i 1993 to early 10,000 i The ew access pla cotais a umber of targets for specific categories of studets that are curretly uder-represeted, icludig disadvataged studets, studets with disabilities, mature studets, ad members of the Travellig commuity. The Pla will esure that the beefits of participatio i higher educatio, icludig ehaced employmet prospects, will be spread more widely ad equitably i the future. ACTION 5.2: JOBSEEKERS WILL BE SUPPORTED TO FIND THE BEST POSSIBLE JOB Sice 2012, there have bee sigificat reforms of the State s services to help uemployed jobseekers retur to work uder the Pathways to Work Strategy. These have icluded the rollout of the Itreo service, a sigle poit of cotact for all employmet ad icome supports, cliet profilig, the itroductio of the JobsPlus employmet icetive scheme, a series of labour market activatio programmes such as Sprigboard ad Mometum ad the cotractig of placemet services for the log-term uemployed uder the JobPath programme. As the ecoomy starts to recover, it is appropriate to cosolidate the reforms ad esure that they are resultig i a chaged reality o the groud. The emphasis should shift to evaluatio ad idetifyig possible discoectios betwee public employmet services ad skills provisio. For example, it remais uclear at what poits ad through which agecy career guidace is provided. DSP has also created a employer services divisio to build effective relatioships with employers. While this is welcome, it will also be competig for the attetio of employers with local educatio ad traiig providers ad the JobPath cotractors. Quality jobs are beig created ad the social welfare system should cotiue to support the trasitio of the uemployed to jobs, particularly the log-term uemployed ad youth uemployed. A Protocol betwee the Departmet of Social Protectio, the Departmet of Jobs, Eterprise & Iovatio, Eterprise Irelad ad IDA Irelad has bee a iovatio i matchig up the existig skill sets of the uemployed with curret or forthcomig job vacacies i cliet compaies of the eterprise developmet agecies. The Protocol, likig together all the strads of eterprise has demostrated how traiig ad upskillig of those o the Live Register ca lead to quality employmet whe regioal educatio providers, employers ad the eterprise agecies lik up i the desig of bespoke courses that are directly related to the eeds of compaies. The Natioal Skills Strategy will build o the success of the Protocol to date ad cotiue to advocate specific skills traiig to idividuals o the Live Register to meet the eeds of idustry at local level. ACTION 5.3: OLDER WORKERS WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO REMAIN ACTIVE IN THE LABOUR MARKET I Irelad, populatio ageig is expected to be rapid, albeit acceleratig later tha i most other OECD coutries. While Irelad curretly has the highest old-age support ratio i the EU27, projectios suggest that i 2050 Irelad could rak 7th. The umber of people aged 60 years or over today is 781,000 i Irelad, accoutig for roughly 17% of the total populatio. These figures are expected to more tha double by 2050, whe this group could accout for 29% of the populatio. The age of eligibility for the State pesio icreased to 66 i Jauary This was the first of three chages which will raise the qualificatio age for the pesio to 67 i 2021 ad to 68 i The implicatios of a ageig populatio exted to a broad rage of policy areas icludig welfare, pesios, health, social care ad educatio Meawhile, private sector pesio coverage i Irelad is relatively low. Accordig to the OECD, oly 41.3% of workers were erolled i a fuded pesio pla i I additio, this varies dramatically across differet sectors ad types of workers. I terms of availability of skills, fewer older people egage i work-based traiig ad they are less likely to volutarily chage jobs tha youger workers. This ca leave those who fid themselves out of a job at a disadvatage. A focus o traiig, developmet ad active career plaig is crucial to esure older workers have the skills to remai competitive i the jobs market. ACTION 5.4: ECONOMICALLY INACTIVE AND UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS WILL BE HELPED TO INCREASE THEIR LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION As oted earlier, 30% of people of workig age i Irelad are ecoomically iactive with educatioal attaimet provig a good predictor of labour market activity. There is thus a clear lik betwee activatio ad educatio policies. The ew Pathways to Work Strategy ( ) 139 is appropriately shiftig emphasis from activatio i a time of crisis to activatio i a time of recovery

53 A commo theme i submissios received for this Strategy was the uder participatio of wome i the workforce ad the cost of childcare ad the eed for further support for workig parets. The issue of labour market flexibility was also raised i the cotext of attractig parets ad uder-preseted groups ito the labour force. Flexible terms, that suit both the employer ad employee, were cited as a key factor i attractig talet ad icreasig the presece of certai groups i the workforce. The Natioal Disability Authority idicates that o average, people with disabilities have lower skills ad qualificatios tha the populatio geerally ad are oly half as likely to be i employmet as others of workig age. The recetly published Comprehesive Employmet Strategy for People with Disabilities carries the themes of buildig skills, capacity ad idepedece; providig bridges ad supports ito work; makig work pay; promotig job retetio ad re-etry to work; providig co-ordiated ad seamless support; ad egagig employers. The Strategy has emphasised the importace of esurig employmet ad career plaig is beig cosidered by youg people with disabilities from a early age, rather tha leavig it to the fial years of post-primary school. ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER OBJECTIVE 5 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ACTION 5.1: SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING Complete the review of the DEIS programme ad implemet chages i Cotiue to provide resources to schools to support the participatio of childre with special educatioal eeds. Complete the review of the literacy ad umeracy strategy for the schools sector ad set ew targets for Progress the adult literacy ad umeracy strategy as set out i the Further Educatio ad Traiig Strategy Seek to address the barriers to participatio i educatio ad traiig programmes for log-term uemployed people. Implemet the Natioal Access Pla for Higher Educatio DES DES DES SOLAS DSP, SOLAS, ETBs DES, HEA, HEIs ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER OBJECTIVE 5 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ACTION 5.2: SUPPORT JOBSEEKERS ACTION 5.3: OLDER WORKERS ACTION 5.4: INCREASED PARTICIPATION IN THE LABOUR MARKET Implemet the Pathways to Work Strategy Build o the success of the Protocol betwee the Departmet of Social Protectio, the Departmet of Jobs, Eterprise & Iovatio ad the Eterprise Agecies to match up the existig skillsets of the uemployed with curret or forthcomig job vacacies i cliet compaies of the eterprise developmet agecies. Idetify areas ad issues withi employmet ad social policies for ehacemet to support loger workig lives. Develop the Workforce Developmet Strategy provided for i the FET Strategy Implemet the Comprehesive Employmet Strategy for People with Disabilities Review policies ad seek to improve quality of life issues i Irelad to esure we ca cotiue to attract high-skilled workers to locate i here ad to ecourage participatio i the labour market. This icludes taxatio, housig ad childcare costs. Expad free pre-school scheme i 2016 to provide eligible childre with a free pre-school place from the age of three util they start school. Phase i supports to eable childre with disabilities to fully participate i pre-school care ad educatio. Implemet Pathways to Work ad i particular activatio for recovery approach. DSP DSP, DJEI EI ad IDA DSP SOLAS D/Justice DFiace, DPER, DELG, DCYA DCYA DCYA DSP Progress plas for the developmet of a framework for the strategic approach to social iclusio across the cotiuum of educatio. A review of the school-leavig age will be carried out i cojuctio with the Departmets of Childre ad Youth Affairs ad Jobs Eterprise ad Iovatio with a view to icreasig it. Review the level ad tred i female participatio i appreticeship i 2018 i the light of the broadeig of appreticeship ito ew areas ad set appropriate targets. DES DCYA, DES, DJEI DES, SOLAS

54 OBJECTIVE 6: WE WILL SUPPORT AN INCREASE IN THE SUPPLY OF SKILLS TO THE LABOUR MARKET ACTION 6.1: INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS WITH IN-DEMAND SKILLS WILL BE ATTRACTED TO IRELAND While the State s primary policy objective i meetig the skills eeds of the ecoomy is to upskill the residet populatio at all levels, the Employmet Permits system will cotiue to play a role i meetig Irelad s skills eeds. Where specific skills prove difficult to source withi the EEA, a Employmet Permit may be sought by a employer to hire a o-eea atioal. A total of 7,265 Employmet Permits were issued i 2015, a 32% icrease over The ICT Idustry accouted for 2,499, or 34% of all employmet permits issued, with a further 44% of permits issued to healthcare workers. This idicates the cotiuig relevace of the Employmet Permits system i addressig the skills shortages relevat to eterprise, particularly i the ICT area. I Irelad the employmet permit system has allowed for a improved respose to emergig skill shortages ad a ogoig respose where domestic supply of skills is ot sufficiet. The cotiued ecoomic recovery may mea that shortages will be observed i greater umber ad i more occupatios ad sectors. I this cotext, the effective idetificatio of labour shortages ad the icorporatio of this iformatio to labour migratio policy are importat. Recet ESRI research idicates that sigificat improvemets have bee made i this regard i Irelad ad that the employmet permit system is icreasigly liked to iformatio o labour shortages ad surpluses. ACTION 6.2: THERE WILL BE INCREASED MOBILITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCHERS INTO INDUSTRY Skilled people are cetral to Irelad s developmet as a kowledge-itesive ecoomy ad higher-ed skills will be a expadig feature of future employmet i Irelad. It will be such people who coduct the research, work i compaies to drive iovative performace ad create ew iovative compaies. To succeed, Irelad eeds a solid pipelie of research skills developmet that supports early-stage researchers, researcher mobility ito idustry ad iteratioally, as well as the developmet, retetio ad attractio of advaced researchers. Iovatio 2020 sets out the Govermet s strategy to advace this over the ext five years: aimig to maximise the impact of researchers activity o Irelad s ecoomic ad societal developmet, ad thereby to optimise the retur o public ivestmet i research. ACTION 6.3: IRISH EMIGRANTS WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO RETURN HOME TO MEET THE SKILLS DEMAND Returig Irish emigrats also have much to cotribute to the Irish ecoomy by brigig home with them the skills ad experiece that they have gaied while overseas. They ca add ew thikig, etrepreeurship ad diversity to the ecoomy. Some submissios received suggested that eve though the ecoomy ad the labour market is improvig i Irelad, which i itself makes Irelad attractive, there are still a umber of barriers to attractig skilled migrats ad Irish emigrats to retur. It was highlighted that broader quality of life issues such as housig, taxatio ad childcare have a impact o Irelad s attractio to both skilled migrats ad our ability to ecourage Irish emigrats to retur home. The affordability of childcare was raised i a umber of submissios. The fact that childcare costs, at 53.5% of the average wage, are the highest i the EU was also cited. It s clear that cross-govermet iitiatives such as those to icrease the supply of affordable ad quality housig through implemetatio of Costructio 2020 are a importat elemet i our ability to esure a adequate supply of skills to the ecoomy. It was suggested that tax reform should be targeted at areas where we are out of lie with iteratioal competitors to support the attractio ad retetio of talet ad to icetivise staff to take o overtime or additioal duties. ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER OBJECTIVE 6 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ALL ACTIONS Review policies ad seek to improve quality of life issues i Irelad to esure we ca cotiue to attract high-skilled workers to locate i here ad to ecourage participatio i the labour market. This icludes taxatio, housig ad childcare costs. ACTION 6.1: SKILLED MIGRANTS Expad free pre-school scheme i 2016 to provide eligible childre with a free pre-school place from the age of three util they start school. Phase i supports to eable childre with disabilities to fully participate i pre-school care ad educatio. Cotiue to moitor the skills eeds of the ecoomy with a view to respodig i a flexible way to the requiremets of the ecoomy. Provide a supportive Employmet Permits system to respod to the requiremets of eterprises where specific skills caot be sourced from withi the EU/EEA. Cotiue to optimise the data held i relatio to employmet permits issued to help iform stakeholders o the skills eeds of the ecoomy. Implemet a programme, based aroud a website portal, through idustry ad agecies workig together, to attract highly skilled iteratioal techology talet. DFiace, DPER, DELG, DCYA DCYA DCYA NSC, SOLAS, DJEI DJEI DJEI EI, IDA, DJEI

55 ACTIONS AND MEASURES TO DELIVER OBJECTIVE 6 ACTIONS MEASURES LEAD ACTION 6.2: RESEARCHERS Icrease erolmets of postgraduate researchers to address demad i the ecoomy. (Iovatio 2020) Address gaps i the fudig system for postdoctoral researcher through competitive support for excellet research across all disciplies ad with a particular focus o iterdiscipliary research. (Iovatio 2020) IRC, SFI IRC, SFI Ehace existig support for the bilateral flow of researchers betwee academia ad idustry by icreasig awards icludig uder the SFI Idustry Fellowship Programme, the IRC Employmet-based Postgraduate Programme ad the IRC Eterprise Partership Programme (Iovatio 2020). Establish improved system-wide trackig of researcher mobility ito idustry (Iovatio 2020). IRC, SFI HEA, RESEARCH FUNDERS Implemet the Iteratioal Educatio Strategy DES, HEIS ACTION 6.3: IRISH EMIGRANTS Implemet Global Irish: Irelad s Diaspora Policy ad build o the #hometowork campaig. D/JUSTICE, DFA tal e 07. Implemetatio ad Measurig Success

56 Implemetatio ad Measurig Success NATIONAL AND REGIONAL SKILLS ARCHITECTURE The scale of Irelad s admiistratio allows for close collaboratio betwee Govermet departmets ad agecies i the developmet ad implemetatio of cross departmetal policies. It also facilitates egagemet with wider stakeholders such as those represetig eterprise. Such collaboratio ad egagemet has bee evideced i the developmet of a rage of policies ad strategies such as the Higher Educatio Strategy, the Further Educatio ad Traiig Strategy, the Actios Pla(s) for Jobs ad Pathways to Work. I the area of skills idetificatio ad provisio there is a wide rage of orgaisatios ivolved sometimes with complemetary roles ad sometimes with overlappig roles. This ladscape has evolved ad chaged over time. New bodies have bee created such as SOLAS ad the Appreticeship Coucil, while 33 VECs have bee ratioalised ito 16 ETBs ad Forfas has bee itegrated ito the Departmet of Jobs, Eterprise ad Iovatio. I the light of these developmets ad others such as the creatio of Regioal Skills Fora it is timely to review the architecture withi which skills eeds are idetified ad respodig provisio prioritised. I reviewig the architecture withi which skills eeds ca be idetified ad respoded to a umber of key compoets ca be idetified: a. High quality labour market itelligece/research b. Close egagemet with employers/eterprise c. Close egagemet with providers of educatio ad traiig d. Accommodatio of both regioal ad atioal perspectives e. Close co-ordiatio amog relevat Govermet Departmets ad Agecies f. A mechaism for mediatig demads ad prioritisig ivestmet g. Clarity of roles ad simplicity of desig The Skills ad Labour Market Research Uit (SLMRU) 141 i SOLAS has provided valuable iput i terms of labour market research over the years ot least through its work o thematic reports o supply of skills ad regioal labour market aalysis. The Expert Group o Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) has also provided valuable iput, i particular through its sectoral studies which have idetified eeds of particular sectors as well as eeds i more horizotal areas such as ICT. Close egagemet with employers is a feature of the work of both groups. Educatio ad traiig providers also keep abreast of developig treds i sectors of eterprise related to their provisio. It is essetial that providers maitai such cotacts/coectio with relevat sectors. While labour market ad broad sectoral treds ca be idetified at a high level o a ogoig basis, more graular sectoral studies are less frequet. 141 The Skills ad Labour Market Research Uit (SLMRU), based i SOLAS, provides a data gatherig, aalytical ad research resource to support the work of Govermet Departmets, agecies ad educatio ad traiig providers. The SLMRU will also support the work of the Natioal Skills Coucil ad the Regioal Skills Fora. REGIONAL SKILLS FORA The DES has bee workig with State fuded educatio ad traiig providers, other govermet departmets/agecies ad eterprise represetatives to establish Regioal Skills Fora. These will provide a vehicle for close co-operatio at Regioal level betwee educatio ad traiig providers ad eterprise, betwee the differet educatio ad traiig providers themselves ad with the ivolvemet of other govermet departmets/agecies a local lik with the implemetatio of other strategies such as the Regioal Actio Plas for Jobs ad Pathways to Work. I their deliberatios the Fora will also cotribute to the further developmet of atioal labour market research, sectoral studies ad other relevat iformatio. MEDIATING SUPPLY AND DEMAND AND DELIVERING ON PRIORITIES Probably more tha most areas of State provisio, the educatio ad traiig sector is the subject of a myriad of competig demads across the rage of its provisio from early years through to research. This is o less true i the area of skills where the umber ad scale of demads ievitably will exceed the capacity of providers. Ultimately, it is a matter for the Miister ad Govermet to determie the amout of fudig to be allocated to the differet areas of activity withi the educatio ad traiig sector. However, it is desirable that as far as possible, the skills advisory architecture provides iformed advice to the Miister ad Govermet o prioritisatio withi that elemet of provisio specifically directed at meetig skills eeds. This is ot a easy task. Differet sectors of the ecoomy compete for skills, eterprises operate relatively short timeframes i plaig skills eeds, differet sectors withi the educatio ad traiig system compete for resources ad similar coflictig demads arise betwee ad withi educatio ad traiig providers. However difficult the task, it is preferable that some attempt is made to brig represetatives of eterprise, providers ad state orgaisatios together at a atioal ad regioal level to cosider the relevat research, atioal ad regioal data ad experiece ad the ature of competig demads for skills provisio with a view to reachig a cosesus o prioritisatio ad o makig it happe. REVISED ARCHITECTURE: A NATIONAL SKILLS COUNCIL As the ladscape gets more complex a more co-ordiated ad itegrated structure that brigs together the various iputs to prioritisatio of provisio to meet skills demad is eeded. I itroducig ew arragemets we eed to build o the stregths of the curret arragemets for idetificatio of skills eeds, provide a mechaism for mediatig demads i a maer that facilitates prioritisatio withi the idetified eeds while at the same time ehacig the provider respose to idetified eeds ad esurig delivery o priorities. The followig revised architecture is proposed to accommodate the key compoets idetified above. A ew Natioal Skills Coucil (NSC) will be established to oversee research, advise o prioritisatio of idetified skills eeds ad how to secure delivery of idetified eeds. Three members of the Coucil will be appoited from a eterprise/employer backgroud oe of whom will chair the Coucil. The chief executives of the HEA, SOLAS, QQI, IDA, Eterprise Irelad ad

57 SFI will be members of the Coucil which will also iclude represetatives of the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills, the Departmet of Jobs Eterprise ad Iovatio, ad the Departmet of Social Protectio ad the Departmet of Public Expediture ad Reform. The Chairs of the Coucil of Presidets of the uiversities ad IoTs will also be ivited to be members of the Coucil. A learer represetative will also be appoited. The Departmet of Educatio ad Skills will establish a ew Uit which will provide support to the Natioal Skills Coucil. The ew Uit will give a dedicated focus to eterprise egagemet ad will ehace a co-ordiated respose to skills eeds across the differet sectors of educatio ad traiig. It will also oversee the developmet of the Regioal Skills Fora ad the developmet of liks betwee the Coucil ad the fora. I establishig a ew Natioal Skills Coucil it is importat to ackowledge the key cotributio made to date by the EGFSN. The ew arragemets are beig itroduced i the cotext of the chaged ladscape referred to above ad to provide a coheret atioal architecture icorporatig the ew regioal skills structures. At the same time they will esure that the key elemets of the EGFSN model of aalysis ad horizo scaig with close egagemet with eterprise will be maitaied. The EGFSN ad its madate will be refreshed to alig its role i researchig ad idetifyig skills eeds with the ew architecture uder the Natioal Skills Coucil. The Departmets of Educatio ad Skills ad the Departmet of Jobs Eterprise ad Iovatio will devise collaborative workig arragemets to esure the optimal supports for the work of the Natioal Skills Coucil ad the ew regioal structures. I additio to its role o advisig o skills priorities the Coucil will have a key role i promotig ad reportig o the delivery of resposes by the educatio ad traiig providers to those priorities. The ivolvemet of the Chief Executives of the relevat agecies i the Coucil together with the coect betwee the Coucil, eterprise ad idividual educatio ad traiig providers through the Regioal Fora will give greater focus to deliverig resposes to those priority eeds. While close workig relatioships betwee the Natioal Skills Coucil ad the Appreticeship Coucil will be importat it is ot proposed to icorporate the work of the Appreticeship Coucil withi the NSC at this poit i time. The developmet of ew appreticeships uder the Appreticeship Coucil is at a early stage ad it is cosidered prudet to allow the Appreticeship Coucil cotiue with its work. Further cosideratio will be give to the relatioship betwee the two Coucils i the lifetime of this Strategy. RESEARCH, DATA AND EVALUATION The success of this strategy ad its costituet actios will rely o robust itelligece ad its applicatio to the prioritisatio of skills provisio ad to the effective allocatio of resources. Work is uderway at all educatio ad traiig levels to ehace the evidece base that ca iform policy ad ivestmet decisios. The Primary Olie Database (POD) ad Post-Primary Olie Database (PPOD) have bee developed for use i schools. Withi the further educatio ad traiig sector, improved systematic data gatherig ad usage is a key priority uder SOLAS strategy. The agecy is developig a ew system that will comprise a atioal course database, a atioal course caledar ad a atioal learer database. As well as improvig FET policy developmet ad ivestmet allocatios, this iitiative will make FET much more accessible throughout Irelad. The FET Strategy provides for a systematic review of FET provisio over the lifetime of the Strategy ad a review of PLC provisio is curretly uderway. The HEA is workig with the higher educatio istitutios ad other stakeholders to develop a graduate outcomes survey that will provide improved iformatio o graduate employmet destiatios. The assessmet of educatio ad traiig outcomes will be supported through the likage of learer data with data from other Govermet Departmets ad agecies (such as employmet status) where feasible subject to data protectio ad privacy rules. These itelligece improvemets withi educatio ad traiig will be complemeted throughout this Strategy s implemetatio by up-to-date iformatio o labour market treds through the Natioal Skills Database 142 ad quatitative models 143 developed by SOLAS Skills ad Labour Market Research Uit, as well as other sources such as CEDEFOP s Europea aalysis. The ew Regioal Skills Fora will provide a platform i each regio to iterrogate regioal employmet treds ad mediate these with appropriate skills provisio. The success of the Strategy will also ivolve embeddig evaluatio ito all aspects of skills provisio ad usig its outcomes to improve aligmet betwee the eeds of learers, employers ad civic society. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGY Implemetatio of the Natioal Skills Strategy is ot the sole resposibility of ay oe govermet departmet or agecy, it is a cross-cuttig strategy, which will require cooperatio from may differet stakeholders. I additio to the resposibilities of govermet departmets ad agecies, employers ad idividuals also have their ow parts to play i the implemetatio of the strategy. While this Strategy outlies the visio ad high level priorities ad actios for addressig the skills eeds of the coutry over the ext te years, implemetatio at a more graular level will be required i the priority areas idetified. New actios will be idetified durig implemetatio. Detailed actios ad timelies will be worked out by the resposible stakeholder as part of busiess plaig processes, ad will geerally be worked out o a aual basis ad the allocatio of resources for particular priorities will geerally be worked out as part of the aual Estimates process. The prioritisatio of actios ad the scale of activity o ay priority or actio will be depedet o the level of resources available i ay oe year. Existig goverace ad performace structures ad process will be used to esure that the priorities ad actios icluded i this strategy are implemeted. Robust goverace 142 The SLMRU developed the NSD, which collates all available iformatio o the supply ad demad of skills i Irelad (e.g. data o educatio/traiig provisio, participatio ad output; micro level data o profile ad treds i employmet, uemploymet ad iactivity, etc.) 143 The SLMRU has developed a umber of quatitative models to ehace skills eeds idetificatio. Occupatioal forecastig, labour market trasitios ad appreticeship forecastig models have bee developed by the SLMRU

58 arragemets are i place to drive, maage ad moitor implemetatio of the existig reform programme i the Educatio ad Traiig sector. A dedicated Programme Maagemet Office (PMO) oversees the developmet ad support the implemetatio of the Departmet s Itegrated Reform Delivery Pla (IRDP). SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS Service Level Agreemets (SLAs) are i place betwee the Departmet of Educatio ad Skills ad its agecies. These agreemets provide a opportuity for the Departmet ad the agecy to agree priority actios ad timelies, to clearly defie resposibilities ad to put i place procedures to esure effective accoutability ad moitorig. SLAs are agreed betwee the Departmet ad each of the skills focused agecies: Natioal Coucil for Curriculum ad Assessmet (NCCA), State Examiatios Commissio (SEC), SOLAS (the Further Educatio ad Traiig authority), the Higher Educatio Authority (HEA) ad Quality ad Qualificatios Irelad (QQI) o a aual basis ad these are reviewed ad moitored at regular itervals. FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING Aual service plas betwee SOLAS ad the Educatio ad Traiig Boards provide the framework for moitorig progress agaist agreed quality ad performace targets. They provide iformatio o the plaig cycle ad process, fudig allocatios, programmes, services ad supports ad projected programme iputs, outputs ad outcomes for the period. HIGHER EDUCATION Implemetatio of the Higher Educatio Systems Performace Framework ivolves a process of strategic dialogue ad agreemet of compacts with publicly fuded higher educatio istitutios. The purpose of the strategic dialogue ad performace compact agreemets betwee the HEA ad each higher educatio istitutio is to alig the missios, strategies ad profiles of idividual HEIs with atioal priorities, ad to agree strategic idicators of success agaist which istitutioal performace ca be measured ad fudig ca be allocated. The Systems Performace Framework is due for review i 2016, ad the review will take ito accout the priorities outlied i this Strategy. OTHER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES Other govermet departmets ad agecies have aual busiess plaig process ad reportig mechaisms i place to esure that relevat actios to support the implemetatio of the strategy ca be prioritised ad moitored. EMPLOYMENT & ACTIVATION TARGETS BASELINE TARGET Employmet Target (EP2025) millio (2020) EP 2025 Regioal uemploymet rates will ot be higher tha 1 percetage poit tha atioal rate PTW Move 50,000 log term uemployed at the start of 2016 ito employmet by the ed of 2020 PTW Reduce the ratio betwee youth ad overall uemploymet from 2.2:1 to <2:1 by the ed of 2017 (EU average = 2.2:1) <3% <1% 20,000 (ed 2020) 2:1:1 (ed 2017) Specific skills high level idicators for skills developmet ad use of skills that will be moitored over the lifetime of the strategy iclude: MEASURE BASELINE MID TERM EXISTING INDICATORS THAT WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED PERCENTAGE OF THE LABOUR FORCE AT LEVELS 1-15% 7% 3 ON NFQ 144 EU2020 REDUCE THE PERCENTAGE OF YEAR OLDS WITH AT MOST LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATION AND NOT IN FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO 8% EU2020 INCREASE THE SHARE OF YEAR OLDS WHO HAVE COMPLETED TERTIARY EDUCATION TO AT LEAST 60% 6.9% 145 5% 60% 60% 146 INDICATOR 2025 INDICATOR EP 2025 DOUBLE INVESTMENT IN TRAINING 543 1,100 1, AND UPSKILLING FOR EMPLOYEES 147 ICT ACTION PLAN DOMESTIC SUPPLY OF GRADUATES TO MEET 74% OF DEMAND 57% % MEASURING SUCCESS I additio to the implemetatio of the strategy, we eed to be able to moitor the success of the actios ad progress towards the objectives. There are a umber of idicators ad surveys, both from iteratioal ad atioal sources, which will allow us to track the impact of the Strategy. 144 This target is beig carried over from the Towards Tomorrow s Skills strategy. The target will be reviewed i 2020 ad a appropriate target set for the period to Origial EU2020 target was 8%. 6.9% is curret performace. 146 This is the existig EU2020 target. Further targets will be developed followig progress i the rollout of appreticeships ad traieeships. 147 The amouts o the table relate to the average ivestmet per employee per aum i EI / IDA compaies. DJEI is reviewig bechmarks to measure ivestmet as a percetage of payroll i future. 148 The 2025 target is a ew target for the NSS 149 Based o aalysis supplied by the HEA

59 MEASURE BASELINE MID TERM INDICATOR 2025 INDICATOR NEW INDICATORS MEASURE BASELINE MID TERM INDICATOR 2025 INDICATOR NEW INDICATORS PISA PERFORMANCE ON READING PROPORTION OF STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE 11.4% (OECD AVERAGE 8.5%) INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE TO 15% WORK PLACEMENTS FOR FET LEVEL 6 STUDENTS NOT AVAILABLE ALL FULL-TIME STUDENTS ALL FULL-TIME STUDENTS PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2: 9.6% (OECD AVERAGE 18%) MAINTAIN THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2 AT LESS THAN 10% MAINTAIN THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2 AT LESS THAN 10% WORK PLACEMENTS FOR HE LEVELS 6 TO 8 NOT AVAILABLE 153 ALL FULL-TIME STUDENTS ALL FULL-TIME STUDENTS PISA PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE PISA PERFORMANCE MATHS GEM ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION (PRIMARY AND POST PRIMARY) 150 PROPORTION OF STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE 10.8% (OECD AVERAGE 8.4%) PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2: 11.1% (OECD AVERAGE 17.8%) PROPORTION OF STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE 11% (OECD AVERAGE 13%) PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2: 16.9% (OECD AVERAGE 23.1%) MAINTAIN OUR POSITION IN THE TOP 10 PERFORMING OECD COUNTRIES% MAINTAIN OUR POSITION IN THE TOP 10 PERFORMING OECD COUNTRIES INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE TO 15% DECREASE THE PROPORTION OF DECREASE THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2 STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2 TO LESS THAN 10% MAINTAIN OUR POSITION IN THE MAINTAIN OUR POSITION IN THE TOP 10 PERFORMING OECD TOP 10 PERFORMING OECD COUNTRIES COUNTRIES INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF INCREASE THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE STUDENTS AT LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE TO ABOVE THE OECD AVERAGE DECREASE THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2 REACH AND MAINTAIN OUR POSITION IN THE TOP 10 PERFORMING OECD COUNTRIES 2014: 2.09 (EU AVERAGE INCREASE IRELAND S RATING TO 2.12) (ON SCALE OF 1 ABOVE ) DECREASE THE PROPORTION OF STUDENTS PERFORMING BELOW LEVEL 2 TO LESS THAN 10% MAINTAIN OUR POSITION IN THE TOP 10 PERFORMING OECD COUNTRIES INCREASE IRELAND S RATING TO ABOVE 2.3 PARTICIPATION OF 6.7% 10% 15% POPULATION AGED IN LIFELONG LEARNING PIACC percet of adults scorig at Level 1 or below for Literacy PIACC PERCENT OF ADULTS SCORING AT LEVELS 3, 4 OR 5 FOR LITERACY PIACC PERCENT OF ADULTS SCORING AT LEVEL 1 OR BELOW FOR NUMERACY PIACC PERCENT OF ADULTS SCORING AT LEVELS 3, 4 OR 5 FOR NUMERACY SENIOR CYCLE RETENTION 90.6% 17.5% TO REDUCE THE PERCENTAGE OF ADULTS SCORING AT LEVEL 1 OR BELOW TO 12% (ROUND 3) 44.5% TO INCREASE THE PERCENTAGE OF ADULTS SCORING AT LEVELS 3,4 OR 5 TO 50% (ROUND 3) 25.6% TO REDUCE THE PERCENTAGE OF ADULTS SCORING AT LEVEL 1 OR BELOW TO 17% (ROUND 3) 36.3% TO INCREASE THE PERCENTAGE OF ADULTS SCORING AT LEVELS 3,4 OR 5 TO 45% (ROUND 3) NEW TARGET TO BE CONSIDERED NEW TARGET TO BE CONSIDERED IN CONTEXT OF REVIEW OF IN CONTEXT OF REVIEW SCHOOL SCHOOL LEAVER AGE LEAVER AGE GEM ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION (POST SECOND LEVEL) : 2.95 (EU AVERAGE 2.8) (ON SCALE OF 1 5) INCREASE IRELAND S RATING TO ABOVE 3.0 INCREASE IRELAND S RATING TO ABOVE 3.05 FACILITATE THE PROVISION OF NEW APPRENTICESHIP AND TRAINEESHIP REGISTRATIONS WORK PLACEMENTS FOR NOT AVAILABLE TRANSITION YEAR, LCVP AND LCA STUDENTS 50, A REVIEW WILL TAKE PLACE IN 2020 TO SET NEW AMBITIOUS TARGETS TO 2025 STUDENTS IN TRANSITION YEAR, STUDENTS IN TRANSITION YEAR, LCVP AND LCA WITH A WORK LCVP AND LCA WITH A WORK PLACEMENT PLACEMENT 150 GEM Etrepreeurship Educatio ratigs i these areas are based o surveys of atioal experts 151 GEM Etrepreeurship Educatio ratigs i these areas are based o surveys of atioal experts 152 Cumulative umber of ew registratios o Appreticeship ad Traieeship Programmes 153 The Irish Survey of Studet Egagemet 2015 reports that 63.2% of studets surveyed have doe, or ited to do, work experiece or a idustry placemet over the course of their studies

60 NATIONAL EMPLOYER SURVEY The first Natioal Employer Survey was coducted i Q The survey aims to ascertai employers views o the overall quality of recet further educatio ad higher educatio graduates, ay challeges i fillig graduate vacacies, the factors cosidered i recruitig graduates ad collaboratio betwee busiess ad educatioal istitutios. The ext Survey is due to be udertake i FET STUDENT FOLLOW UP SOLAS will cotiue to coduct a aual follow up survey of participats who have atteded vocatioal traiig programmes (former FAS Programmes) delivered by the ETBs. These surveys will be based o a represetative sample of participats who have exited the programmes 12 moths previously. The survey will provide detailed quatitative iformatio o the outcomes of the programmes i terms of employmet, progressio ad certificatio. The surveys will also cotai detailed qualitative iformatio o the learers experiece while attedig the programmes. SOLAS is curretly developig a data ifrastructure, the Programme ad Learer Support System (PLSS), which will provide a platform for reportig o all further educatio ad traiig outputs ad outcomes ad will be fully operatioal i It will provide a data ifrastructure for likig with other admiistrative data sets (e.g. HEA, DSP, Reveue etc.) which will eable follow up of learers upo course completio ad measuremet of course impact o learers socioecoomic status, icludig logitudial ad couterfactual aalyses. The FET Strategy provides for the establishmet of a Learer Forum, together with appropriate Learer Surveys that will systematically bechmark the views of learers alog with levels of satisfactio of FET provisio o a o-goig basis. Together, these measures will support the provisio of high quality further educatio ad traiig programmes to meet the eeds of learers i lie with atioal ad iteratioal quality stadards. IRISH SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT The Irish Survey of Studet Egagemet (ISSE) is a detailed survey offered to first year udergraduates, fial year udergraduates ad postgraduate studets pursuig taught programmes. More tha 27,300 studets from thirty istitutios respoded to the survey i The survey collects iformatio o studet egagemet with their learig eviromets i order to provide a more valuable ad iformed isight ito studets experieces tha is possible from other iformatio sources. Studet egagemet with istitutioal life is a vital igrediet to esure that studets develop key skill-sets such as critical thikig, problemsolvig, writig skills, ad team work ad commuicatio skills. GRADUATE OUTCOMES SURVEY A ew survey is curretly i developmet to replace the First Destiatios Report which has bee udertake by the HEA sice Graduate outcomes data is critical i plaig future skills eeds ad i uderstadig the immediate destiatios ad employmet outcomes of graduates of Irish higher educatio. It is plaed that the ew graduate outcomes survey will provide data o graduate qualificatios ad employmet both withi Irelad ad overseas, relevace of employmet to area of study, data o graduate further study, uemploymet ad uavailability for work, ad graduate perceptios of the quality ad relevace of their higher educatio experiece. The ew survey is expected to be delivered to graduates i March 2017, ad aually thereafter. A logitudial survey is also i developmet, which will track career progressio of graduates at various poits i time followig their graduatio. CASE STUDIES While idicators ad metrics are a useful mechaism for moitorig process towards the aims of the strategy, they do ot always capture the true impact of actios. Therefore, i additio to the use of the idicators, surveys ad moitorig mechaisms metioed above, it is proposed to ivestigate the use of case study reportig. Case studies offer a more qualitative approach to moitorig ad allow for the outliig of details ad impacts that are ot easily captured by traditioal moitorig mechaisms. They promote the use ad replicatio of prove good practice. There are already may iovative ad impactful actios takig place i areas covered by this Strategy. The use of case studies will allow these ad other actios uder the strategy to be preseted ad traslated ito iformatio showig their effectiveess ad impact o the ecoomy ad society as a whole. HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE REPORT The Systems Performace Framework for Higher Educatio has 40 high level idicators, grouped uder 7 Key System Objectives. The idicators form the basis for assessig how well the higher educatio system is performig i relatio to each system objective. Through the Strategic Dialogue process, idividual higher educatio istitutios agree performace compacts with the HEA, with targets reflectig their cotributio to the overall system objectives uder these idicators. The first Systems Performace Report was published i 2014, addressig the performace of the higher educatio system as a whole uder the idicators set out i the Systems Performace Framework. I additio, there is ogoig moitorig ad review of the performace of HEIs agaist the targets set out i their compacts. The Systems Performace Framework is due to be reviewed i 2016, ad the ext Systems Performace report will be published i cojuctio with this review. The survey is udertake aually, ad results published i Q4 of each year

61 MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF FURTHER EDUCATION Sice the publicatio of the five year Further Educatio ad Traiig Strategy, sigificat improvemets have bee made i the plaig ad fudig of Further Educatio ad Traiig. Educatio ad Traiig Boards egage i a service plaig process aually agaist a rage of detailed parameters set by SOLAS. This process has bee refied ad improved each year sice 2014 icludig the use of stregtheed labour market data ad better egagemet with employers ad the Departmet of Social Protectio. All of the idividual fudig programmes will also be the subject of formal review ad evaluatio with the review of the PLC programme the largest full time programme beig completed i The outcomes of these reviews will iform the further developmet of the plaig ad fudig process. The process will also be stregtheed by the availability of better ad more curret data o programme outputs ad outcomes with the delivery ad rollout of the Programme Learer Support System i 2016 ad The itesive work across a rage of iitiatives i this area will deliver a plaig ad fudig model clearly drive by performace ad outcomes. ABBREVIATIONS APEL Accreditatio of Prior Experietial Learig BIM Buildig Iformatio Modellig CBA Classroom Board Assessmet CEDEFOP Europea Cetre for the Developmet of Vocatioal Traiig CEFR Commo Europea Framework of Referece for Laguages CPD Cotiuig Professioal Developmet CSO Cetral Statistics Office DCYA Departmet of Childre ad Youth Affairs DEIS Deliverig Equality of Opportuity i Schools DELG Departmet of Eviromet ad Local Govermet DES Departmet of Educatio ad Skills DJEI Departmet of Jobs, Eterprise ad Iovatio DPER Departmet of Public Expediture ad Reform DSP Departmet of Social Protectio EEA Europea Ecoomic Area EGFSN Expert Group o Future Skills Needs EI Eterprise Irelad EP2025 Eterprise 2025 ESOL Eglish for Speakers of other laguages ESRI Ecoomic ad Social Research Istitute ETB Educatio ad Traiig Board EU Europea Uio FAPRI Food ad Agricultural Policy Research Istitute FE Further Educatio FET Further Educatio ad Traiig FIT Fastrack to IT GDP Gross Domestic Product GNP Gross Natioal Product GEM Global Etrepreeurship Moitor HE Higher Educatio HEA Higher Educatio Authority HEIs Higher Educatio Istitutes HGV Heavy Goods Vechicle HR Huma Resources ICT Iformatio Commuicatios Techology IDA Idustrial Authority IMF Iteratioal Moetary Fud IMO Irish Midwives Orgaisatio IRC Irish Research Coucil IRDP Itegrated Reform Delivery Pla ISCED Iteratioal Stadard Classificatio of Educatio ISSE Irish Survey of Studet Egagemet

62 NOTES IT ITE JCPA JCT LCA LCVP MDC NCCA NFETL NFQ NFT NSC NSD OECD PC PDST PIRLS PISA PLC PMO POD PPOD PTW QAG QQI R & D REAP RPL SEC SFI SLA SLMRU SME S SSE STEM STEAM TIMSS TUSLA TY VEC Iformatio Techology Iitial Teacher Educatio Juior Cycle Profile of Achievemet Juior Cycle for Teachers Leavig Certificate Applied Leavig Certificate Vocatioal Programme Maagemet Developmet Coucil Natioal Coucil for Curriculum ad Assessmet Natioal Forum for the Ehacemet of Teachig ad Learig i Higher Educatio Natioal Framework of Qualificatios Natioal Traiig Fud Natioal Skills Coucil Natioal Skills Database Orgaisatio for Ecoomic Co-operatio ad Developmet Persoal Computer Professioal Developmet Service for Teachers Progress i Iteratioal Readig Literacy Study Programme for Iteratioal Studet Assessmet Post Leavig Certificate Programme Maagemet Office Primary Olie Database Post Primary Olie Database Pathways to Work Quality Assurace Guidelies Quality ad Qualificatios Irelad Research ad Developmet Roadmap for Employmet-Academic Partership Recogitio of Prior Learig State Exams Commissio Sciece Foudatio Irelad Service Level Agreemet Skills ad Labour Market Research Uit Small, Medium Eterprises School Self Evaluatio Sciece, Techology, Egieerig ad Maths Sciece, Techology, Egieerig, Arts ad Maths Treds i Iteratioal Mathematics ad Sciece Study Child ad Family Agecy Trasitio Year Vocatioal Educatio Committees

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